Kolkata, Dec 11 The Election Commission of India (ECI) has advised district magistrates (DMs), who are also district electoral officers (DEOs), to ignore any suggestion from political parties regarding the selection of private housing complexes with multiple high-rise towers for setting up polling booths for next year’s crucial Assembly elections in the state.
Insiders at the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal, said the Commission’s advice to the DMs/DEOs on this count has come after divergent views emerged from different political parties about proposals to set up polling booths within private housing complexes.
One view, cited by an insider at the CEO’s office, opposes setting up polling booths inside private housing complexes on the grounds that the arrangement could cause inconvenience to residents. Another view, the CEO’s office insiders added, favours locating polling booths in such complexes on the basis that it would make voting more convenient for elderly and ailing residents who would otherwise have to travel to a nearby polling station, often in a school.
The Commission’s instruction to DMs/DEOs to disregard political parties’ suggestions follows a strong reaction from the ECI on Wednesday to the absence of any single proposal from the DMs and DEOs identifying private housing complexes with multiple high-rise towers that are suitable for polling booths for the forthcoming Assembly elections.
In a sharply worded communication to the office of the Chief Electoral Officer, West Bengal, on Wednesday, the Commission pointed out that, since no proposals for polling stations had been received from West Bengal, it had taken a serious view of the DEOs’ failure to perform their statutory duties under Section 25 and Section 160 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
The same communication directed that, after publication of the draft electoral roll on December 16, all DEOs should immediately conduct surveys of high-rise buildings, group housing societies, resident welfare association (RWA) colonies, slums and gated communities having at least 250 houses or 500 voters. They must provide details of available ground-floor rooms and identify suitable accommodation within those premises for polling stations.
The Commission has also directed the CEO's office to complete that exercise by December 31.
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