Will ensure TN Assembly polls to be influence and inducement free, COVID safe: EC

 A strict surveillance will be in place and comprehensive preparation carried out to make Tamil Nadu Assembly election influence and inducement free while following COVID-19 safety protocol, the Election Commission of India said on Tuesday.

The commission stressed the need to reach out also to the section of voters facing mobility issues.

The pandemic safety norms followed in nearly 60 by-elections in various states and the Bihar polls will be followed in Tamil Nadu also, Umesh Sinha, Secretary General, Election Commission of India, said.

Sinha said the recent election to Bihar assembly, held amid the Covid pandemic, has been successful and "most participative" ever.

He is on a two-day visit to the city from Monday to review the state's preparedness to hold the Assembly polls, expected in April-May next year.

As it is vital to avert overcrowding at polling stations during the pandemic, it has been decided to ensure only 1,000 voters at each polling booth.

In case the number of voters exceeds 1,000, they will be split and accommodated in different rooms at the same polling station, Sinha told a press conference here.

"All COVID related issues are very important. We are happy to witness a declining trend in Tamil Nadu where the infection has been contained to a large extent.There are fewer cases now. We are keeping in mind that the issue may remain during the elections and hence it is necessary to follow the Bihar model," he said.

The elections conducted in Bihar have been successful and the "most participative" ever, Sinha added.

All the elections have been conducted keeping the safety norms of COVID and the requirement of sanitation. The election in Bihar was not only successful but also most participative. There was a record turnout of voters and civil voters, he said.

For the Tamil Nadu elections, masks, sanitisers, medical kits and ambulances, besides a ramp for the voters who are differently abled, will be ensured at all the polling booths and a bio-medical waste disposal plan will also be incorporated.

In order to sensitise authorities and to evolve a proper mechanism for holding a covid-free election, the Bihar Chief Electoral Officer H R Srinivasa briefed state officials earlier in the day, he said.

Sinha said elections in Tamil Nadu have by and large been peaceful but "a comprehensive preparation will be done this time to make the entire process of election inducement- free and influence-free." Hence, polling stations will be mapped and a strict surveillance will be in place.

Influence by way of money, liquor, goodies or any other means will be stopped. The commission will act tough on those trying to influence the voters, the senior official said.

The state CEO (Satyabrata Sahoo) has been asked to launch a voter awareness campaign soon, Sinha added.

Sinha is accompanied by a team of high-level officials, comprising deputy election commissioners Sudeep Jain and Ashish Kundra, Pankaj Srivatsava, director, and Malay Mallick, Secretary, ECI.

On Tuesday, they met various enforcement agencies, and also the chief secretary, DGP, and other State government secretaries.

During pandemic times, persons with disabilities, voters aged 80 and those facing the issue of mobility would be given the option to exercise their franchise through postal ballots.

Arrangements would be made to facilitate such voters to cast their votes from their houses.

"This will be similar to a mobile polling station. If required representatives of political parties could accompany the polling officials," Sinha said.

He emphasised that the ECI's endeavour is to conduct free, fair, peaceful, inclusive, ethical and participatory elections covering even the young and the old, women and weaker sections and the differently abled while minimising the spread of the virus.

To a question, he replied several political parties in the state have favoured single day polling and this will be conveyed to the ECI.

In the past many years, Tamil Nadu has had single phase polling.

It is too early to predict, Sinha shot back when asked about the date and schedule for the Assembly election in the state.

"Our teams are getting the inputs and analysing various factors. Polling dates will be decided by ECI," he said.

Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu are due in 2021 and are expected to be held in April-May.

Arch rivals AIADMK and DMK, besides Kamal Haasan's Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM), have already hit the campaign trail.

While the AIADMK is looking to score a hat-trick of electoral victories after the back to back wins in 2011 and 2016, DMK is making a full throttled bid to upset its rival's dreams and storm to power. 

(IMAGE CREDITS:PTI)