Rajasthan Assembly Elections: Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said on Sunday said that the Election Commission of India (ECI) is committed to conducting free and fair elections in Rajasthan, with the focus on ease of voting and turnout.
He also said that there is no proposal before the apex poll panel to make voting mandatory for people.
The CEC and Election Commissioners Anup Chandra Pandey and Arun Goel are in the state to review the preparations for the assembly elections due later this year.
Speaking at a press conference in Jaipur, Kumar said that the candidates contesting contesting elections will have to disclose their criminal records through newspaper advertisements. He added that political parties should also give reasons for choosing such candidates.
The CEC said that “vote from home” facility will be available to elderly voters and people with 40 per cent or more disabilities for the first time in Rajasthan.
He also cleared the air on mandatory voting, saying that there is no such proposal before the Election Commission, adding that initiatives are being taken to increase turnout and enhance ease of voting.
Speaking about the Rajasthan electorate, the CEC said, “Rajasthan has 5.25 crore voters, including 2.73 crore male, 2.51 crore female and 604 transgenders. Of these, 18,462 are older than 100 years, 11.8 lakh above 80 and 21.9 lakh are first-time voters.”
“1,600 polling stations will be managed by women, 200 by persons with disabilities and 1,600 by newly-recruited youths. The poll process at 50 per cent of the 51,756 polling stations will be webcasted,” he added.
CEC Kumar also said that the focus is to have a voter turnout of 75 per cent at each polling station in the state this elections. In the last Assembly elections, the overall voter turnout was recorded at 74.71 per cent.
He said members of the ECI held a series of meetings with state government officials, including the chief secretary, district collectors and police superintendents, the director general of police and others, during its three-day visit to the state. Meetings have also been held with representatives of political parties.
Taking about the points raised by the political party representatives during the meeting, Kumar said they stressed on a transparent election process, action on false affidavits and unverified and unauthorised data related to castes on social media, effective checks on the distribution of freebies, cash and liquor to voters, and the deployment of paramilitary personnel at critical booths.
They also urged the poll panel to prevent the governments from issuing back-dated orders once the Model Code of Conduct is enforced, he said.