In the wake of some parties’ allegations that he is biased towards the ruling party, Chief Electoral Officer Rajesh Lakhoni spoke to Dennis S. Jesudasan in an attempt to clear the air.
There are allegations by some political parties that you favour certain parties. Your response.
This election is Information Technology-based. It’s not humans but humanoids or machines. Everything is automated. In case of any complaint, even I don’t get to know what action is being taken. Only after the search is completed will I be informed about the action taken. So, there is no scope for bias in this system. Use of information technology is highest in this election. Income Tax officials are independent of the State government. The moment a complaint is registered, a message goes to the flying squad and then the team proceeds to the place as per protocol.
So, no officer can tell the multi-department teams to do something or not to do something. Since the flying squads are tracked on GPS, they cannot decide not to take action. So, comprehensive action is being taken on complaints and so no individual department can influence the action of multi department teams.
Can’t your office disclose the names of individuals and political parties when you get to know that they are mobilising money?
The seizure is done by the Income Tax Department and they inform me about the figures and other items seized. They only inform the Election Commission and a copy is marked to us through which we get to know. The Income Tax Department is an independent department and they take stringent action.
Do you have sufficient man power for surveillance?
Flying squads are from multiple departments and now we are also putting Central government staff in them.
Once CRPF personnel come, they will also join these teams. For the first time, IPS probationers will be deployed in these teams. So, when there is involvement from multiple agencies, people cannot raise questions about these squads’ neutrality.
What steps have you taken to sensitise voters against accepting money for votes, besides attempts to stop the flow of money from the political parties and candidates?
We have made public awareness videos, which are being played in cinema theatres and in several public places so that people understand the act of giving and accepting money for vote is a matter of shame. For the first time, we have given the candidates option to take a pledge that they will not give money for votes.
Also, there are over 21,300 youths in village vigilance committees in about 16,000 villages who will alert us on the movement on money and liquor for election purposes.
How do you intend to increase the voting percentage on the day of polling?
We have been successfully running the 100 per cent voting campaign.
We have reached out to colleges, old age homes, and places where there is scope to create awareness. Our campaign in the virtual world [online] is doing well.
What are the steps you have taken to ensure that voters who turn up on May 16 do not face hardship?
For the first time here, we have an SMS-based queue monitoring system in some constituencies, which will inform voters about the queue position in their booths. There are about 2 crore numbers in our server. We will ensure water, electricity, wash room facilities.
Over 13,000 wheelchairs are to be used to aid the differently-abled and the elderly, who come to the polling booth.
