The much anticipated schedule for the assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam, West Bengal and Puducherry was announced today with the Election Commission opting for six-phase polling in the violence-marred Bengal.
As the commission has decided to count the votes of the five states on the same day, the four other states will have to wait for a month to know their results till the polling in Bengal is over.
The terms of the legislative assembly of Tamil Nadu and Kerala will expire on May 16 and 23 respectively. Puducherry and Assam’s assembly term comes to an end on May 28 and in West Bengal on June 11.
While the Election Commission has gone in the traditional way of conducting single-phase vote in Kerala (140 seats) and Tamil Nadu (234 seats) for the first time Bengal will witness six-phase polling. Chief election commissioner S Y Qureshi cited “ground situation” and law and order problems as the main reasons for such an extensive polling period.
All other states but Assam will poll for the newly demarcated constituencies under the Delimitation Act. The North-Eastern state, however, faced major problems during the delimitation exercise and will continue to hold polls as per Delimitation of Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies Order of 1976.
The Election Commission has also decided to distribute the voter slips through their own machinery and not allow the political parties to tamper the process. The Commission had applied this method in last year’s Bihar election and wants to extend it in other states, said Qureshi.
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With the announcement of the election, Model Code of Conduct has come into effect immediately.
While Kolkata will go for polls on the third phase (27 April), the Commission has kept the last phase only for conducting polls in the Maoist-hit areas.
NRI Voters
For the first time in the Indian election, overseas Indian citizens can caste their votes. This is likely to have a major impact in Kerala which has large number of its residents settled abroad, especially in the Gulf countries. The Chief Election Commissioner said that the process of enrollment for the Overseas Indian citizens has already started.
Call centre
Apart from taking the regular measures, the EC has also introduced a call centre facility for the political parties and others to lodge complaint regarding elections. The toll free number is 1965. Quereshi informed that this will be pan-Indian number but the caller will be automatically directed to a local call centre of the EC. Websites will also be available for lodging complaints.
“The Commission has also decided to apply innovative practices viz GIS Mapping in election management, On-line payment to polling staff, Security management and Voters education and awareness creation in different States during these elections,” said an EC release.