The Election Commission has asked the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to deploy Central armed forces on the premises of the West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer’s office in Kolkata, citing a potential “law and order” risk during the Special Summary Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state.

In a letter to MHA Joint Secretary Anil Subramaniam on Thursday, ECI Secretary Sujeet Kumar Mishra wrote, “There was a law and order situation in front of the office of the Chief Electoral Officer, West Bengal, which was gheraoed by a crowd of booth level officers (BLOs) and workers from certain political party(ies) on November 24 and 25… posing a serious security risk to officers and staff of the office of Chief Electoral Officer, West Bengal.”

“Considering the sensitivity involved during SIR exercise and forthcoming general election to the legislative assembly, occurrence of such incidents in future may not be ruled out,” The letter added.

It also flagged “security and operational” concerns at the CEO’s office, which presently operates from a rented space on two floors of a building on Netaji Subhas Bose Road.

The office is being shifted to the Shipping House building at 13, Strand Road, BBD Bagh.

The ECI has sought immediate deployment of Central forces to ensure round-the-clock security at the current premises and subsequently at the new office once relocation is completed.

“Owing to security vulnerabilities, lack of basic amenities and other operational issues, the office of the Chief Electoral Officer is being shifted… The shifting formalities will take some time and are likely to be completed in a few days,” the letter stated.

A senior EC official said, “At first, we thought it would be properly managed by state police personnel. But later, we saw they are very much reluctant to tackle the situation. Then, we decided to seek Central forces’ deployment.”