LS elections: Most parties in Tamil Nadu want EC to hold single-phase elections | Lok Sabha Election News – Business Standard
“The parties demanded that CCTV cameras be deployed in the most sensitive booths and strong action against impersonation during voting,” he added | Photo: Shutterstock
Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Saturday said most political parties in Tamil Nadu have urged the EC to hold the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in a single phase in the state.
At the end of his two-day visit to Tamil Nadu to review election preparedness, Kumar said the Election Commission (EC) would take strict action against officials who do not ensure a level playing field for parties because “in a democracy, officials should be absolutely impartial are.”
Briefing reporters on the issues raised by the political parties, he said, “Most political parties want one-phase elections and are demanding steps to limit the use of money power during elections.
They also demanded disqualification of candidates found distributing cash during the elections or any inducement.”
“As far as processes are concerned, they (political parties) have said that the bureaucratic apparatus must be impartial. They must provide a level playing field so that every candidate is treated equally,” he said.
Kumar, who was flanked by senior EC officials including Tamil Nadu Chief Electoral Officer Satyabrata Sahoo, said the political parties demanded that permission for election rallies be given on “equal terms” and not “discriminated against”.
“The parties demanded deployment of CCTV cameras in the most sensitive booths and strong action against impersonation during voting,” he added.
According to CEC, Tamil Nadu has 6.19 crore voters, of which 3.15 crore are women and 3.04 crore are men.
“We appeal to women to outnumber male voters even if they come to vote,” he said in a lighter tone, adding that there were 8,294 transgenders, and 4.22 lakh persons with disabilities (PWDs).
There are 1.08 crore people in the age group of 20 to 29 years and the first time voting among the age group of 18 to 19 years is 9.18 lakh.
There are 68,144 polling booths and the European Commission has mandated 50 percent of them to conduct live webcasting and they must be equipped with Assured Minimum Facilities (AMF) such as drinking water, electricity, toilet, ramp and wheelchairs.
Referring to the distribution of cash or liquor to voters, Kumar said the EC has come up with a mobile app cVIGIL (Citizens Be Vigilant), through which a user can click a picture of any incident such as distribution of cash and assured that within 100 minutes of After receiving the complaint and verifying it, action would be taken against them.
“Upon receiving the complaint based on the latitude and longitude shared by the user, the Static Surveillance Teams or the Flying Surveillance Teams will reach the location and after verifying the complaint, they will take action. EC action is guaranteed within 100 minutes after time through this mobile application,” he said.
(Only the headline and image of this report may have been reworked by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
First print: February 24, 2024 | 7:50 PM IST