Guwahati (Assam) [India], March 16 : Congress leader Pawan Khera urged the Election Commission of India (ECI) to take local sensitivities into account while announcing poll schedules, raising concerns over the upcoming polls in Kerala coinciding with Easter.
Speaking toon the announcement of Assembly Election dates in five regions, Khera said the commission should have consulted stakeholders before finalising the schedule. "Such decisions should be taken with sensitivity. In Kerala, there is an issue. Easter is coming in just 23 days. So the election commission should do widespread consultations with all the stakeholders before announcing these dates, because the local sensibilities have to be respected," he said.
Khera further questioned the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise of electoral rolls, alleging that the process could lead to targeted deletion of voters. "We are questioning this exercise (SIR) because in the last six months, our experience has been that this exercise is targeted to delete votes, not to add votes, and the deletion is also very deliberate, very targeted. Therefore, we have been raising questions about this exercise," he said.
The Election Commission on Sunday announced the schedule for Assembly elections in West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Assam, along with the Union Territory of Puducherry. Polling in West Bengal will take place in two phases on April 23 and April 29, while Kerala, Assam and Puducherry will vote in a single phase on April 9. Tamil Nadu will go to the polls on April 23. Counting of votes for all five regions will be conducted on May 4.
The election schedule announced by the poll body will cover a total of 824 Assembly constituencies across the five regions, with an estimated electorate of about 17.4 crore voters. Nearly 2.19 lakh polling stations will be set up, and around 25 lakh personnel will be deployed for the conduct of the elections.
Following the announcement of the schedule, the Model Code of Conduct came into immediate effect in all poll-bound states and Union Territories.
The elections come as the terms of the existing assemblies approach their end between different dates starting from May 7 in West Bengal, May 10 in Tamil Nadu, May 20 in Assam, May 23 in Kerala, and June 15 in Puducherry.
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