Bihar Assembly election scheduled for October-November
Patna:
Bihar’s opposition parties wrote a joint letter to the Election Commission to guarantee “equal opportunities” during the national elections scheduled for October-November. Opposition parties have said that the Election Commission should ensure that the dual objective is achieved – the security of COVID-19 voters and free and fair elections.
“People also expect the commission to guarantee and satisfy the public that the entire voting exercise will not become a mass media event,” they said in the letter.
“The state has a population of around 13 crores with 7.5 crores of voters. How does the Election Commission plan to ensure a physical distance of at least two meters recommended by the WHO (World Health Organization) and ICMR (Indian Council for Medical Research), repeatedly advocated by the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) himself? “declared the opposition parties.
“People need explicit clarity so that the healthy participation of the majority of voters is not affected,” they said.
Opposition parties have expressed concern that the BJP is advancing a plan for virtual election campaigns and calling for a ban on physical campaigns due to the COVID-19 threat.
“According to TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India), only slightly more than half of the population has a mobile phone. Only 34% have a smartphone. It will be a parody of an unforgivable proportion to officially legitimize an electoral campaign mode which is not only severely limited in scope, but exclusive in design. Almost two-thirds of the electorate will be excluded from the process, “said opposition parties.
“We ask you to review and reassess the situation, in consultation with public health experts and other stakeholders, keeping in mind the rapidly worsening situation. We ask you to make a decision enlightened as soon as possible which gives due importance to the health and life of people and makes no compromise on the sanctity of the democratic verdict of the people, “they said.
A virtual meeting was held today with the Election Commission and nine parties, who then delivered a memorandum to the polling station.
The postal polling station for people over 65 – recommended by the Election Commission earlier this month – will not be operational for Bihar assembly elections or by-elections to be held later this year. The Election Commission said that this had been done “due to the logistics, staffing and security protocols of COVID-19”.
The postal polling station has so far been reserved only for people over 80 and people employed in essential services and is not assigned to its country of origin.
Bihar also decided to create 34,000 other polling stations – an increase of 45% – bringing the total number of polling stations to around 1.06 lakh. This, according to the Election Commission, would pose formidable logistical challenges in mobilizing 1.8 lakh of additional voting staff and other additional resources. By-elections would pose similar challenges.
