Bangalore: The Election Commission (EC) has deployed seven companies of paramilitary forces comprising 600 personnel for the smooth conduct of the Chamundeshwari assembly by-election in Karnataka Dec 4.

"We requisitioned for paramilitary forces after the election observers assessed the law-and-order situation to conduct a free-and-fair by-poll.The forces will assist the local police in maintaining peace in the segment till the voting day," Mysore deputy commissioner and district electoral officer S. Selvakumar told sources.


The by-election is being held following the resignation of former Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) rebel leader Siddaramaiah from the assembly constituency to join the Congress. The ruling combine of JD-S and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fielded Shivabasappa as a common candidate.

A.S. Guruswamy of the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) and Karunakar of the Samajwadi Party are among the 12 other candidates in the fray for the prestigious seat, which has an electorate of 368,599 voters.

The state election commission (SEC) has declared 209 of the 345 polling booths as sensitive and 128 as hypersensitive. To prevent untoward incidents, including booth-capturing, rigging and poll-related violence, the state police has made elaborate security in Chamundeshwari, about 160 km from here.

"In addition to the Karnataka state reserve police and city armed reserve forces, platoons of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) will be posted in the constituency to ensure peaceful polling," Selvakumar said.

On complaints from political parties and rival candidates, the poll panel has registered 65 cases for violating the moral code of conduct and seized 10 vehicles, besides campaign material used for defacing public places and encroaching public property.

The EC has replaced returning officer Chikkathimmaiah with Mysore urban development authority secretary V. Rajendra after poll observer Raymond Peter, a 1986 IAS officer from Andhra Pradesh, complained against the former for failing to discharge his duties.

The Congress-led opposition parties complained to the EC that the returning officer had failed to act against poll violations such as misuse of official machinery, including vehicles and putting up unauthorised hoardings, posters and cut-outs by the party cadres and supporters of the ruling combine.

Taking a serious note of the complaints and sidelining of the official work by ministers in the run-up to the D-day, state Governor T.N. Chaturvedi wrote to Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, directing the coalition government to ensure fair poll and maintenance of peace.a