New Delhi, Apr 15 : With the Election Commission identifying the twenty-three thousand villages that would go to polls for the first phase of Lok Sabha elections on Thursday as "vulnerable", the onus is now on the central and state governments to ensure peaceful elections.
A total of 1,715 candidates, including 122 women, are contesting for the 124 seats, where over nine lakh officials have been deployed across 1.85 lakh polling stations.
Deputy Election Commissioner R. Balakrishnan has assured to deploy Central paramilitary forces along with state security forces at the polling booths.