Mumbai: Taking a serious cognizance of the slow paced voting process and long queues in Mumbai during Lok Sabha election, the chief electoral officer (CEO) of Maharashtra on Wednesday said that three to four people will be allowed to enter the polling room at one time instead of a single person. The ECI has appointed seven officers to make proper arrangements in the city and suburbs to provide basic amenities at the polling station. The State branch of the ECI will also examine all the statements related to “Vote Jihad” made after the imposition of the Model Code of Conduct.
During the Lok Sabha election in May 2024, the citizens raised the issue of insufficient and poor arrangements such as absence of drinking water facilities and lack of basic amenities in the polling stations and polling booths amid the heat-wave.
Speaking with the reporters in Mantralaya, Maharashtra Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) S. Chockalingam said that they have designated Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) commissioner as DEO (District Electoral Officer). There are four additional BMC commissioners and two district collectors in Mumbai and Suburbs, which have six parliamentary constituencies. The ECI designated these officers as additional DEO. “Each additional DEO will take care of six assembly constituencies. We are hopeful that proper arrangements will be made this time through the BMC, which is resourceful,” he said.
In order to avoid long queues at the booth stations and increase the voting percentage in the state, the Maharashtra CEO said that they have advised the officers to allow three to four citizens at a time to enter the polling booths to cast their votes. They have also rationalized the polling stations.
Due to lack of facility for keeping mobile phones at the polling stations, many citizens had left from the polling booths without casting their votes. To resolve this issue, the Maharashtra ECO has sent a proposal to the poll body with a suggestion to provide space for keeping mobile phones of citizens outside of polling booths. “We have sent a proposal to the ECI in this regard,” the CEO said.
Despite an imposition of model code of conduct (MCC) in Maharashtra on Tuesday evening (around 4.00 pm), the state state government allegedly continued to issue government resolution (GRs) in connection with the allocation of funds to various projects and schemes among other things. When asked about it, Mr. Choklingam said, “We will hold a thorough inquiry into the allegations. After the inquiry, if we find any GR issued after 3.30pm on Tuesday, appropriate action will be taken.”
Following the Maharashtra CEO’s statement, the government has removed all the GRs which were issued on Wednesday.
The BJP has been stating that the MVA candidates won in the Lok Sabha election due to “Vote Jihad”. A fortnight ago, senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis had raised the issue “vote jihad” in Kolhapur stating that it was witnessed in 14 out of 48 constituencies in the state in recently concluded Lok Sabha elections. Mr. Fadnavis went on stating that a particular community had unitedly voted to defeat Hindutvawadi candidates.
Dr. Kiran Kulkarni. Additional Chief Electoral Officer said that there are various aspects in connection with “Vote Jihad”. “ This issue has various legal aspects. We will have to examine all the aspects. Post this, if needed we will take guidance from the ECI and decide our future course of action,” Dr. Kulkarni said.
