KOLKATA: People in the city are in awe of the multiple armoured capsule-based infantry mobility vehicles deployed for polls. It is hard to miss their sight. Be it on arterial roads or at crossings in the city.A few of these vehicles, the Shourya Light Bulletproof Vehicle (LBPV) and the Mahindra Marksman, have J&K number plates. These indicate that they had travelled from the northern state to the city.These vehicles belong to the Central Reserve Police Force, travelling with the units that have arrived from there.
The use of these vehicles around Bhowanipore and Hazra, which will witness a high stake poll battle between chief minister Mamata Banerjee and leader of opposition, Suvendu Adhikari, has further triggered speculations. The Election Commission and the CAPF personnel claim the idea is to instil confidence among voters.“We are trying to build confidence in voters. This involves movement, be it on foot by CAPF personnel or in vehicles. If a CAPF personnel travels on a bus vis-a-vis such an armoured vehicle, it is anyone’s guess which will have a greater impact,” said a senior CAPF official.Senior CRPF officials stated that ‘a large number’ of these vehicles have been deployed across the state, after being requisitioned from more than one state.“We do not want to discuss the security specifics,” said a senior official.Many Kolkatans, though, wondered if the use of such vehicles, each costing no less than Rs 50 lakh, sends a message of ‘confidence’ or of ‘being put in a conflict zone’.Social media has been abuzz with citizens posting photographs of the vehicles. They have been arguing over their ‘usefulness.’“It seems we are in the West Asia conflict zone. That’s why there is a saying in Bengali, you fire a cannon to kill a mosquito,” wrote Chanchal Bhattacharya on his X profile.Rajeev Singh argued against such a claim.Singh opined that such acts should not be put out of context in the state, where every poll brings with it violence.CEO Manoj Agarwal, said “This is not a war zone. This is like any other election. This is a normal QRT vehicle used for the troop movement.”The CEO claimed that there were no special arrangements as far as he knew.The Kolkata Police also said that such vehicles were not new. “We have five similar vehicles stationed across Park Street, Victoria Memorial, Lord Sinha Road and Kalighat areas. The outer colour code is different this time,” said a joint CP.
