Heading on a collision course with the Election Commission of India and the Ministry of Home Affairs, Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee, in an unprecedented move, has decided not to allow the Railway Protection Force (RPF) to be deployed for the forthcoming Assembly elections in Maharashtra saying the force was instead required for railway security during the ongoing festive season and to tackle the Naxal threat.

Banerjee’s decision, communicated to Home Secretary G K Pillai by Railway Board Chairman S S Khurana recently, has already stirred up a controversy given the fact that RPF is an "armed force of the Union" and can be asked to serve anywhere in the country. The move is likely to generate some heat between the EC, MHA and the Railway Ministry in the days to come.

The MHA had recently asked the Railway Ministry to provide 21 companies (around 2,600 personnel) to be deployed for the Maharashtra Assembly elections from October 1 to 13. 

What makes Banerjee's decision intriguing is the fact that the RPF Headquarters in New Delhi, as per reliable sources, was ready to spare men for election duty and was in the process of calling in personnel from various areas to be sent to Maharashtra. 

The MHA, however, is yet to respond to Mamata’s decision.

The RPF has been actively deploying personnel for election duties whenever it has been asked to in the past and has been remunerated for its services. Banerjee’s move not to allow these personnel now has the RPF top brass in a quandary given the fact that a significant number of personnel had already been mobilised being kept in “readiness” for deployment in Maharashtra.