India, Feb. 5 -- It was a little after 2pm. The 32-year-old Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) constable had just finished her 10-hour morning shift when she made a quick video call to her six-year-old son in Bhubaneswar.

The constable, who asked not to be identified, had just returned to her temporary lodging at a Delhi Development Authority (DDA) flat in Narela. Still in uniform, she quietly ate lunch in the two-bedroom space shared with fellow officers.

She is one of thousands of paramilitary personnel deployed in Delhi over the past three weeks to ensure the assembly elections are conducted smoothly.

A routine part of all elections held in the country - whether general, assembly, or municipal - thousands of these personnel assist ...