The Election Commission deserves to be commended for the manner in which it has tightened its grip over malpractices in elections over the years. That ills like booth capturing and brazen intimidation of voters have been substantially controlled across the country is a feather in the cap of the commission. It would be worthwhile for the Election Commission to consider, however, whether it really needs to stagger the polls to the extent it does. In the current round of assembly elections, on the one hand while Manipur went to polls on January 28 and Punjab and Uttarakhand on January 30, the elections in UP spread across seven phases will culminate only on March 3. The assembly elections in Goa are also slated for March 3. It is only after completion of polls in all five states that counting will take place for all on March 6. It is hardly surprising that in the states where polling has been completed, work in government offices is virtually at a standstill.
The question needs to be addressed whether the election process in the five states could not have been compressed even making allowance for the movement of security personnel to guard the polling stations. The Election Commission would do well to look into this aspect closely so that the loss of manhours is minimised.
The Tribune, February 4
