All efforts to make Rajinder Nagar bypoll inclusive, accessible; 1.64 lakh electors: Delhi CEO

From deployment of security personnel to monitoring poll code violations and from building voter awareness to ensuring necessary facilities, the Delhi CEO office is making all preparations to ensure that the upcoming Rajinder Nagar bypoll is inclusive, accessible and fair.

Delhi Chief Electoral Officer Ranbir Singh at a press conference here said a total of 1,64,698 electors are eligible to cast their vote in the June 23 by-election.

Asked if any violation of model code of conduct has been reported since the date for the contest was announced by the Election Commission on May 25, he said, ''Yes, MCC violations have been reported and action also has been taken by authorities''.

''Under the defacement of property act, such violations have been reported, and eight FIRs also filed -- six against AAP and two against BJP. ''Similarly, poll code violations have also been reported for conducting rallies without permission, and police has made two DD (daily diary) entries, one each against AAP and BJP,'' Singh said.

The civic authorities have removed 15,015 posters put up in violation of the model code of conduct, he said.

On the preparations made by his office, the Delhi CEO said 14 candidates are in the fray for the upcoming bypoll to the Rajinder Nagar Assembly seat in Delhi, three of recognised parties -- AAP, BJP and Congress, three of unrecognised parties and eight as Independent candidates.

To raise awareness, Bollywood actor Sonam Kapoor has been chosen as an icon, and her images will be used on posters and social media to reach out to greater number of voters, especially the youth, Singh said.

Also, 'Democracy Rath' is moving around in the city to raise awareness among voters, which is equipped with LED screens, public audio system and accompanied with a street theatre team, which will perform at various places, he said. Of the total number of eligible voters for the bypoll, 92,221 are male, 72,473 female and four belong to the third gender, he said.

Also, 1,899 voters in this assembly seat are in the 18-19 age group, he added.

The number of eligible voters in the Rajinder Nagar assembly seat for the 2022 bypoll is less than the count of electors in this assembly seat that was for the 2020 Delhi Assembly elections, as death and migration of voters have been factored in, Singh later told PTI on the sidelines of the briefing.

The number of eligible electors during the 2020 Delhi Assembly polls was 1,77,159 -- 1,00,171 males and 76,988 and zero voter in the third gender category, a senior official said.

In the 2020 polls, the voter turnout in Rajinder Nagar constituency was 58.27 per cent -- 58.09 pc for male voters and 58.50 for female voters; and at 14 polling stations, it was less than 50 per cent. So, this time, a special on-ground campaign will be run at 50 polling stations where the turnout was low last time, the CEO said.

''We will make one model polling station where there are five booths, and one all-women staffed polling station where there are two booths. Also, we are planning to have one polling station staffed by persons with disability. However, as per EC guidelines, their consent is necessary before putting such staff on poll duty, so we are looking for volunteers,'' he said. The electoral population ratio for electors for this bypoll is 64.87 per cent, and the gender ratio is 786. A total of 190 polling stations, including 177 polling stations and 13 auxiliary polling stations will be set up at 21 locations, equipped with all necessary facilities and amenities for people with disability too, like ramps, wheelchairs, toilets, drinking water, medical facility, and creches for mothers if they come with their children, he told reporters.

Critical polling stations are being identified, the CEO said. ''The auxiliary polling stations have been located at these 13 places where the count of voters is more than 1,250. This has been done to ensure social distancing in compliance with Covid-appropriate behaviour,'' Singh said, adding all safety norms will be followed, and hand sanitisers and masks would also be kept at all booths, in case some has forgot to bring them.

''For visually-impaired, facilities have been created too. The EVM machines will have Braille markings and also on dummy ballot to allow a voter with visual impairment to cast his or her vote independently. Even voters slip will have Braille markings to facilitate them,'' Singh said.

There are 591 electors, who are persons with disability, 39 voters are visually impaired, 64 are service voters, and 2,486 voters who are in the age group of 80 and above, he added.

For security purposes, six companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) have been deployed for smooth conduct of the by-election. Besides, flying squads, static surveillance teams, and teams also are in place to monitor model code of conduct violations, among others, the CEO said.

The bypoll has been necessitated in the wake of AAP leader Raghav Chadha leaving the seat after being elected to the Rajya Sabha recently.

Chadha was the MLA from the Rajinder Nagar Assembly seat. The Delhi CEO also also told reporters that a new mobile application, KYC (Know Your Candidate), can be used to get full details about candidates, and C-Vigil app can be used to report any violations.