———S. A. Hemanth———-
Bengaluru, February 12: Suspecting that there could be some violent incidents during the campaign and at the time of polling, the Intelligence Bureau (IB) has suggested to the ECI – through the MHA – to consider holding the polls in two phases.
The IB has been keenly watching the tone, tenor and content of the ‘war of words’ among the three parties – BJP, Congress and JDS – and has concluded that the debate is acrimonious and caustic.
The present tone and tenor, according to IB, may further become shrill and could also lead to some violence.
The stakes are very high for all the three parties. It is almost a ‘do or die’ battle. Given the high stakes, the debate, in the media as well as in the public forums, has also been acerbic.
In this background, it is but natural for the tempers to run riot and high when the actual campaign starts. At that time, IB is of the view that, such a situation could lead to some sort of clashes between workers of the three parties.
In such a situation, deployment of security forces is of paramount importance. The IB is of the view that if the polls are held in one phase, it may become difficult for the security forces to handle the situation.
In this background, the IB has suggested to the ECI to hold polls in two phases so that deployment of security forces and its optimum utilization will be easy.
Ultimately, the ECI will take a call on the matter at an appropriate time. The ECI has commenced the process of consultation with various agencies.
EOM
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