The Election Commission has pulled up district election officers and warned them for their alleged failure to put forward proposals for setting up polling booths in high-rises in Bengal and ordered a fresh survey to find suitable residential complexes after the publication of draft voter lists on December 16.
The poll panel had earlier asked the DMs, who are the district election officers, to find suitable high-rises, group housing societies or gated societies where polling booths could be set up. But the DMs in Bengal did not propose any high-rise buildings for setting up booths, citing that the housing societies showed no interest.
“The response from the DEOs has left the poll panel fuming as 30-odd housing societies directly contacted the EC and expressed their desire to set up polling booths on the premises. The EC strongly believes that the DEOs either didn't carry out the survey properly or didn't send proposals willfully,” said a senior EC official.
A source said: “Calcutta and its suburbs, including Jadavpur, Salt Lake, New Town and Rajarhat, boast more than 400 housing complexes or high-rises that qualify to have their own polling stations. But the DEOs found none of them interested. This has annoyed the poll panel.”
The EC was laying stress on the establishment of polling booths in the high-rises as it had left a positive impact on the voter turnout in the Assembly polls in Delhi. Sources said that in Delhi, the voter turnout was increased by about 8 per cent after polling booths were set up in high-rises.
"It could also leave an impact on the polling percentage in Calcutta, where the average voter turnout of 65 per cent was recorded in the previous elections. This is much lower in a state where the average polling is around 80 per cent," said the source.
The poll panel has said in a letter sent to the Bengal chief electoral officer that societies or high-rises with at least 250 houses or dwelling units or 500 voters will qualify to have their own polling stations.
A section of the officials on the poll panel has said that the EC has doubts about the intention of the DEOs, particularly after the ruling party had voiced reservations about setting up polling stations in the high-rises.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee, on November 24, wrote to the chief election commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar, to express her reservations about the move. She said setting up polling booths in private buildings could compromise fairness, violate established norms and create discriminatory distinctions between privileged residents and the public.
Moreover, the EC has noted that Calcutta mayor, Firhad Hakim, held a meeting at Kshudiram Anushilan Kendra with representatives of the high-rises in the city in the first week of December. The chief minister also spoke to the representatives over the phone. The meeting raised doubts in the minds of the EC officials about whether it had anything to do with the lack of initiatives from the DEOs.
The EC would now keep a close watch on the number of proposals submitted by the DEOs. Apart from areas like north Calcutta and south Calcutta, a majority of the eligible housing complexes are situated in the districts of North 24-Parganas and South 24-Parganas. West Burdwan and Darjeeling would also be under the EC scanner, as some housing complexes in Durgapur, Asansol and Siliguri could also qualify to have their own polling stations.
Now, the EC has made it clear that if the DEOs don’t conduct the survey properly to find out high-rises and societies, they could face consequences.
“The Commission has taken a very serious view of the failure on the part of DEOs in performance of their statutory duty as given under Section 25 of the RP Act, 1951, read with Section 160 of the said Act. The DEOs are also liable under the said provisions for any lack of sufficiency of polling stations for electors in the above specified residential colonies,” reads a letter sent to the Bengal CEO by the EC on Wednesday.