Kolkata, Dec 4 (PTI) Amid demand for deployment of paramilitary forces by the BJP during civic body polls in West Bengal, a State Election Commission (SEC) official on Saturday said specifics about stationing security forces across 144 wards of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation will soon be decided.

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Elections to the Kolkata civic body will be held on December 19.

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The opposition BJP has moved the Supreme Court and even met Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar seeking deployment of central forces during the polls.

The TMC, on its part, said the BJP was "looking for excuses" as it was sure of its defeat.

Asked if the Kolkata Police has sent any report to the SEC on the number of personnel that needs to be deployed during the December 19 elections, Nilanjan Shandilya, the secretary of the poll body, said discussions are underway.

"As far as I know, the Kolkata Police has sent us a draft listing details of force requirement a few days ago. Discussions are still going on within the SEC as well as with the police on the issue," he told PTI.

Another SEC official said specifics about force deployment are yet to be finalised.

BJP's Bengal unit president Sukanta Majumdar had on Wednesday said that his party has moved the Supreme Court praying for its direction to the state poll panel to conduct the Kolkata corporation polls and elections to the 112 other municipal bodies in the state the presence of central armed paramilitary forces.

Majumdar also said that Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar has been urged by the party to use his office for taking up the matter with SEC, amid apprehensions that the state police and other security agencies will not be able "to stop violence unleashed by the ruling TMC on the polling day."

The BJP had also moved the SEC with the same demand but did not get any favourable response, sources in the saffron camp said.

The governor had tweeted on November 30, "A delegation of the BJP called on and strongly urged that for impartial, independent and fair municipal elections, it is necessary that central armed police force be positioned (sic)."

Two days later, he posted that the state election commissioner met him and gave assurance that every necessary step will be taken for free and fair municipal polls.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)