Delhi Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Ranbir Singh on Friday announced a number of measures that were being put in place to ensure that the upcoming Assembly bypoll to the Rajinder Nagar constituency is inclusive, accessible and fair.
These measures include a pick-and-drop facility for persons with disability and senior citizens, a creche for mothers who come to vote with their children, sign language volunteers for those with hearing disabilities and Electronic Voting Machines with Braille markings.
Speaking to the media on Friday, Mr. Singh said several measures from creating voter awareness to ensuring necessary facilities at polling booths had been undertaken to encourage voter participation.
AAP’s Raghav Chadha had won the seat in the 2020 Assembly polls, defeating his closest rival — BJP’s R.P. Singh — by a margin of over 20,000 votes.
The bypoll to the constituency was necessitated after Mr. Chadha was nominated to the Rajya Sabha from Punjab by his party. He was subsequently elected unopposed.
Candidates in fray
A total of 32 candidates filed their nominations for the bypoll. Of these, 14 applications have been accepted, including three from recognised political parties — AAP’s Durgesh Pathak, BJP’s Rajesh Bhatia and Congress’s Prem Lata.
The BJP has named 40 star campaigners for the bypoll, lining up several prominent leaders including Union Ministers Piyush Goyal and Smriti Irani. AAP and Congress are yet to announce any star campaigners for the seat.
Responding to questions on the action taken against poll violations, the Delhi CEO said a total of 15,015 banners, posters and hoardings have been removed from the constituency for violating the model code of conduct (MCC).
The MCC came into force on May 25 when the schedule for the bypoll was announced.
FIRs registered
“Violations have been reported under the Defacement Act. Eight FIRs have been registered, six against AAP and two against the BJP,” said Mr. Singh. He added that nearly 300 litres of liquor worth ₹94,906 had been seized since the MCC came into effect.
Mr. Singh said that 12,461 fewer voters were registered this time, compared with the voter count in 2020 Assembly polls “due to factors of death and migration”.
A total of 190 polling stations, including 13 auxiliary polling stations, across 21 locations are being set up for the bypoll scheduled for June 23. The counting of votes will be taken up on June 26.
