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Bullet-proof armoured vehicles used in Kashmir are patrolling Bengal neighbourhoods categorised as politically sensitive. Central paramilitary forces have started outnumbering state police personnel on poll duties—more than 2,000 companies have already landed in the state. Dozens of officers from other states are arriving as observers. The Election Commission of India (ECI) has been in a chest-thumping mood, insisting that this will be an unprecedentedly free and fair election—a true festival of democracy that Bengal has not experienced. |
