The State election officials are gearing up for the smooth and peaceful conduct of the ensuing elections to Lok Sabha on May 13.
Adequate personnel, numbering around 1.88 lakh, have been deployed for election duties and 63,000 police personnel including 160 companies of the Central forces, have been roped in for the conduct of the elections. Vigil on the movement of inducements like cash, liquor, precious metals and drugs/narcotics has been intensified resulting in seizure of cash and material worth more than ₹125 crore since March 1 across the State. Alerted by the confessional statements of accused in the phone tapping case that money was transported in government and police vehicles in the previous elections, officials this time around appear to be determined to ensure no scope for such developments.
A major concern for the State election officials, Chief Electoral Officer Vikas Raj in particular, appears to be low voter turnout in some Lok Sabha constituencies as he said in an interview to The Hindu. Excerpts:
Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar himself spoke about the low turnout in Lok Sabha elections in constituencies like Malkajgiri and Hyderabad. Any measures initiated to improve the voter percentage?
The CEC made these remarks during his interaction with the municipal commissioners. We have directly interacted with representatives of 4,589 resident welfare associations covering 14.57 lakh households in different parts of the State for improving voting percentage, explaining them about the facilities that have been put in place. We have visited the offices of software companies to identify the problems, if any, for them in exercising their franchise. Similarly, we have convened meeting with the self-help groups in rural areas exhorting them to educate people about the importance of voting. Besides, we are collaborating with postal services, railways and other agencies in our efforts to increase voting percentage.
Youth, students in particular, appear to be a bit indifferent to come and cast their vote?
We have reached out to degree colleges and universities to motivate youngsters. In fact, campus ambassadors have been appointed in colleges/universities to motivate the youth to come forward to exercise their franchise, which is an important duty. Mobile numbers of youth in our database have been updated and we will use the social media to the extent possible for encouraging youth to come and cast their votes.
There has been a demand for setting up polling stations in the vicinity of gated communities. Any steps in that direction?
There are specific guidelines issued by the Election Commission of India for setting up polling stations. We could not set up new polling stations as the time between Assembly elections and Lok Sabha polls is short. We, however, decided to set up 250 auxiliary polling stations in remote and rural areas where people are finding it difficult to vote in view of the distances they should cover. The maximum limit for each polling booth is 1,500 voters, we have decided to relax the condition for remote areas and auxiliary polling stations are being set up in areas where the voter strength is around 300.
There has been significant rise in the seizure of material worth ₹125 crore intended to induce voters even before the formal notification. What is the quantum likely to be by the polling day?
It is difficult to get the numbers as seizures are spread over several departments. There are also cases with links to multiple departments. But we have taken all steps to ensure that there is no scope for movement of freebies like cash, liquor and precious metals. Moreover, political parties go ahead with their propaganda with their own plans not based on notification. Their campaign will be based on approximate time by which the poll process will be set in motion. Elections in the State are in the fourth phase giving political parties more time.
What about the intensity of checking?
We have posted adequate number of static surveillance teams, flying squads and other personnel. We have also installed CCTV network at vantage points to check the movement of freebies. We will continue checking suspicious vehicles including the government and police vehicles on a random basis as we cannot leave anything to chance.
