India, April 28 -- The deployment of IPS officer Ajay Pal Sharma has sparked a major row in West Bengal, especially as the state prepares to head into its second round of voting. As per the BJP and the Election Commission, Sharma has been sent as an "observer" in the state to ensure "free and fair voting."

However, the Trinamool Congress and Samajwadi Party's Akhilesh Yadav have accused the BJP of trying to tilt the vote in their favour by "deploying agents" to intimidate voters.

"Yogi Adityanath's encounter specialist Ajay Pal Sharma has just been parachuted in by the Election Commission as police observer for South 24 Parganas. This is the same man whose badge of honour is a body count from "encounters" and whose real speciality is tu...