Ranchi: The State Election Commission issued a notice to the deputy commissioner of Ranchi on Wednesday seeking an explanation on the manner in which delimitation of wards was carried out, the action following urban development minister C.P. Singh's letter pointing to a rash of complaints from residents who could not locate their booths during the April 16 Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) elections that saw a turnout of 49.3 per cent.

The commission, which has directed deputy commissioner Rai Mahimapat Ray to reply to the notice on priority, expressed its apprehension that guidelines issued before the delimitation exercise had been not been followed by the Ranchi district administration.

"We have taken cognisance of the urban development minister's letter. The commission has no role in adding or deleting any ward in the delimitation exercise. It was done by the district administration on the direction of the commission on the basis of electoral rolls published by Election Commission of India," State Election Commission secretary Gyanendra Kumar told The Telegraph.

The delimitation exercise, which reduced the number of RMC wards to 53 from 55, was conducted as per the Jharkhand Municipal Act-2011 which came to into effect on February 2012.

"Delimitation is done on the basis of census reports. The 2013 civic body poll was conducted without delimitation because the census report of 2011 was not released at the time. The 2018 civic poll was conducted after delimitation. Commission wants to know whether parameters provided by it were followed or not," Kumar said.

He clarified that the commission had categorically instructed the district administration that the polling booth of one ward could not be shifted to another ward and that delimitation ought to be conducted in a manner so as not to inconvenience voters.

In his letter to the commission on Tuesday, minister Singh, who represents the capital in the state Assembly, pointed out several anomalies that led to widespread confusion on the day of the vote. He alleged that thousands of voters were forced to travel to faraway booths and members of families were allotted different booths and wards.

A commission official admitted that the minister's contention about voter inconvenience seemed valid as state election commissioner N.N. Pandey and his family were allotted different booths.

The Telegraph had reported that Cardinal Telesphore P. Toppo could not cast his vote because he did not find his name on the voter list of his usual polling booth and there was no one to guide him. Leader of the Opposition Hemant Soren, on the other hand, managed to cast his vote after a frantic 30-minute search for his designated booth.