Dont Allow Poll Atmophere To Be Vitiated, Parties Tell ECI In Bihar
The parties were unanimous in suggesting that the elections be conducted in one or two phases, but not stretched beyond that.
New Delhi: Check hate speech and hate content, hold elections in a single phase and reduce the number of voters per booth – these were some of the suggestions given by the leaders of political parties in Bihar to the Election Commission team led by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar on Saturday. The EC team is in Patna to review poll preparedness in the state ahead of Bihar Assembly polls that are expected to be announced early next week.
The Election Commission team interacted with the representatives of 12 recognised national and state political parties—namely the AAP, the BSP, the BJP, the CPI(M), the Indian National Congress, the National People's Party, the CP(ML) (Liberation), the JD(U), the LJP (RV), the RJD and the RLJP—and sought their suggestions.
During the interaction the parties were unanimous in their demand that the polls should be held either in a single phase or in two but should not be stretched beyond this. The Assembly elections in Bihar, like West Bengal, have a tendency to get stretched given the size of the state and security issues. In 2015 the Bihar polls were held in five phases, which came down to three in 2020.
To maximise the participation of voters in the impending polls, political parties suggested that the elections be scheduled immediately after the Chhath festival.
The parties urged the EC to keep a watch on the speeches and campaigns of candidates and take stringent action over hate speeches by star campaigners and other leaders. The parties said more often the political attacks get personal and against communities, religions and women, which vitiates the atmosphere. They stressed the polls should be free and fair and state administration should act independently.
The EC officials said the political parties particularly praised the poll panels’s recent initiatives, such as limiting the maximum number of voters per polling station to 1,200, ensuring that the counting of postal ballot votes is completed before the penultimate round of EVM counting and ensuring that Form 17C is distributed by the presiding officer to the agents of political parties before leaving the polling station. A few parties suggested reducing the number of voters at each booth from 1,200 to 800. The EC informed them that they are already in the process of rationalising the booth crowd and making these changes at this moment will not be feasible.
"Our party's representatives had gone and put forward their views. We hope that this time the Bihar elections are fair. Elections should not be held to help anyone. In a democracy, the public is the master. The public has every right that the elections should be held in a good environment,” said RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav.
“All the political parties expressed complete faith in the Election Commission and in its fulfilment of the mandate to ensure free, fair and transparent elections,” the poll body officials said.
Following the interaction with the political parties, the Election Commission held a detailed review with commissioners, IGs, DIGs, DEOs, SSPs, SPs on various aspects of election planning, EVM management, logistics, polling station rationalisation and infrastructure, training of election staff, seizures, law and order, voter awareness and outreach activities. The commission also gave instructions to the officers based on the suggestions given by political parties.
Mr Kumar termed political parties as a significant stakeholder of a strong democracy and called upon them to fully participate at every stage of the election process by appointing their polling and counting agents. He encouraged the political parties to wholeheartedly celebrate elections in a festive spirit along with the voters.
The EC officials said the political parties thanked the poll body for successfully completing the historic special intensive revision (SIR) exercise and purifying the electoral rolls and reiterated their faith and trust in the electoral processes.
The Election Commission directed all district election officers (DEO), superintendents of police (SP) and the state administration to act with complete impartiality and ensure prompt resolution of the complaints and grievances of the political parties. All DEOs and SPs were instructed to monitor social media for fake news and to respond swiftly with appropriate legal action.
