 "Election watchdog to watch UP Police during 2017 polls")
In run up to the 2017 Uttar Pradesh polls, Chief Election Commission (CEC) Nasim Zaidi on Tuesday said the Election Commission (EC) would keep a watch on the role of UP Police during elections.
Talking to media after meeting the representatives of political parties here, Zaidi asserted all necessary steps would be taken to ensure free and fair polls, and ensuring the police remained objective and unbiased in discharging its duty.
He said the EC had received several recommendations and suggestions from the political parties, which would be considered for taking action before the poll dates are announced.
Zaidi maintained that EC would also ensure muscle and money power had no role to play in polls.
He informed the political parties had expressed apprehensions that police could be misused for political gains.
"Our primary focus in the coming elections would be at the police stations level," he said.
Meanwhile, the EC has ordered that only inspectors be posted as police station in charges in UP after receiving complaints that sub inspectors were also officiating as in charge of police stations.
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The political parties have also suggested deployment of central forces in UP before the nomination process begins.
Zaidi said 138 million electorates in UP would be eligible to vote in the next polls due in the early part of 2017.
While the 2011 Census puts the number of youth in the age group of 18-19 years at 9.4 million in UP, the electoral rolls only had 4,00,000 electorate. He said the EC would take measures to include their names in the roll as well.
The EC is also targetting to improve the voting percentage in UP from 60 per cent clocked in the last polls to 70-75 per cent across the 1,47,000 polling stations.
Meanwhile, Zaidi said UP chief secretary had informed EC that the state would release Rs 60 crore for the electrification of polling stations in UP.