Kolkata: The Election Commission has designated 837 of the 1,835 booths under Kolkata North parliamentary constituency as ‘highly sensitive’, citing fears of possible irregularities. At hundreds of these booths, 150 or more names were removed from the voter list during the SIR process. Kolkata North District Election Officer (DEO) Smita Pandey said on Monday, “The Election Commission fears that people left out of the voter list may take to the streets to vent their anger against the deletion of names.” “The polling body has identified 837 out of 1,835 booths under the parliamentary constituency as ‘highly sensitive’. Of the seven assembly constituencies under Kolkata North, Shyampukur has the maximum number of such hyper-sensitive booths (80),” he said. According to Pandey, apart from removing booths, “those creating unrest, violating law and booths in densely populated places” are also factors considered before deciding on giving them the ‘highly sensitive’ tag. An Election Commission official admitted that the number of ‘highly sensitive’ booths was quite high, amounting to about 45.6% of the total. The Election Commission has declared 264 out of 583 polling precincts in seven assembly constituencies as ‘highly sensitive’. Pandey said the Election Commission is planning to use drones in densely populated streets of northern parts of the city “to ensure free and fair elections”. Kolkata Police Commissioner Ajay Nand, who attended a press conference organized by the DEO of Kolkata North, said that police and paramilitary personnel have started the route march as a confidence building measure. Preventive arrests are also being made and unaccounted cash is being seized, he said. Kolkata South DEO Randhir Kumar said that out of 1,093 polling stations in the four assembly constituencies under the parliamentary seat, more than 400 were identified as ‘critical’ or ‘unsafe’. Kumar said enforcement agencies have so far seized unaccounted cash and articles worth Rs 8.9 crore, including Rs 80 lakh recovered on the first day. Also 32 weapons and 83 rounds of ammunition were seized. Kumar said around 30 companies of CAPFs have been deployed in the city to ensure free and fair elections.