Top government sources on Wednesday said intelligence agencies have intercepted cross-border "chatters" between terrorists who speak about intentions to target some political leaders in India during the elections.
There has been a marked increase in talk among the terrorists about attempts to disrupt the election process, they said.
The intercepts suggest that terrorists want to target some politicians during elections as it could result in lot of media attention, the sources said but did not identify the leaders facing the terror threat.
The development indicates that the Pakistan-based terrorists are maintaining audacity of planning fresh strikes even as India is building pressure on Islamabad to act against such forces in the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks.
India will begin voting in five phases from April 16, conducting the biggest electoral exercise in the world.
At least 71.4 crore citizens out of the country's 112 crore population are eligible to vote in the general elections.
During the elections, vulnerability of politicians relatively gets enhanced as they have to go out for campaigning among masses, which compromises with their security many a time.
The government is leaving no stone unturned and has drawn up plans to deploy 40 lakh civilian officials and 21 lakh security personnel for the smooth conduct of elections.
Personnel of the central police forces, state police forces, home guards and the Railway Protection Force would be mobilised to guard the more than 8.28 lakh polling stations spread throughout the country.
