“We appeal to women to outnumber male voters whenever they come to vote,” he said.
Chennai:
Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Saturday said most of the political parties in Tamil Nadu have urged the Election Commission to conduct the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in the state in a single phase.
At the end of his two-day visit to Tamil Nadu to review election preparedness, Kumar said the Election Commission (EC) will take strict action against officials who do not ensure level playing field for parties because “in a democracy, officials have to do so. Needed.” Be absolutely fair.”
Briefing journalists on the issues raised by political parties, he said, “Most political parties want single-phase voting and have demanded steps to reduce the use of money power during elections.”
He also demanded disqualification of those candidates who were found distributing cash or giving any inducements during the elections. “In terms of process, they (political parties) have said that the bureaucratic machinery is required to be fair,” he said. needed. They need to provide level playing field so that every candidate is treated equally.
Kumar, who was accompanied by senior Election Commission officials including Tamil Nadu Chief Electoral Officer Satyabrata Sahu, said political parties have demanded that election rallies be allowed on an ‘equal footing’ and there should be no ‘discrimination’. “The parties demanded that CCTV cameras be deployed at the most sensitive booths and strict action be taken against those found cheating during voting,” he said.
According to CEC, there are 6.19 crore voters in Tamil Nadu, of which 3.15 crore are women and 3.04 crore are men.
“We appeal to women to outnumber male voters whenever they come to vote,” he said in a light-hearted tone, adding that there are 8,294 transgenders and 4.22 lakh persons with disabilities (PWD).
There are 1.08 crore people in the age group of 20 to 29 years and the number of first-time voters between the age of 18 to 19 years is 9.18 lakh.
There are 68,144 polling stations and the Election Commission has made it mandatory to have live webcasting at 50 per cent of them and they should be equipped with assured minimum facilities (AMF) like drinking water, electricity, toilets, ramps, wheel chairs.
Referring to the distribution of money or liquor to voters, Kumar said the Election Commission has come up with a mobile app cVIGIL (Citizens Be Vigilant), which allows the user to click a picture of any event like money distribution and provide assurance. It says that if the complaint is received within 100 minutes, it will be verified and action will be taken against them.
“After receiving the complaint based on the latitude and longitude shared by the user, static monitoring teams or flying monitoring teams will reach the site and after confirming the complaint they will take action. Guaranteed action from EC within 100 minutes Is through this mobile application,” he said. PTI VIS ROH
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