Delhi gets in election mood as EC rings poll bell; over 1.3 crore voters eligible

Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, Delhi's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Ranbir Singh on Monday said around two lakh people have been added to the electoral roll in Delhi in the last two months, taking the total number of eligible voters till date to 1.39 crore. Singh, however, said nearly 90,000 voter applications are presently being processed and asked first-time voters to apply as soon as possible to get their names enrolled in the electoral list.

The number of first-time voters, aged 18-19, in the electoral roll stands at 1,58,314, he told reporters. Singh also said authorities will keep a strict vigil on social media platforms to check the spread of fake news and hate speech to ensure free and fair polls and asserted that "appropriate action" will be taken against the violators.

Announcing the poll schedule here on Sunday, Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora had said each of the social media platforms has created a mechanism to accept only pre-certified political advertisements during the election process and will share the expenditure incurred in this regard with election authorities. For the "first time", a social media expert has been included in the Media Certification and Monitoring Committee (MCMC) of the poll body, which will monitor both at state-level and district-level, he said.

"We will be keeping a watch if any paid news or fake news is being peddled on TV, radio or social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Use of image of army personnel on any posters would be a violation of the poll code. Posters bearing images of politicians displayed at public places would also be covered," he said.

Singh said the commission has fixed an upper limit on poll expenses by each candidate at Rs 70 lakh, adding, the limit was Rs 40 lakh in 2014 general elections. "Besides, a candidate has to declare in the affidavit details of the last five years of his assets and liabilities and that of his or her spouse, dependent children, and including about overseas accounts or deposits. A Hindu undivided family would also have to provide account details," the CEO said. The general elections will begin on April 11 and will be held over seven phases, followed by counting of votes on May 23. The elections in Delhi are due on May 12.

Singh told reporters that the last date for filing nominations for Lok Sabha polls in the national capital is April 23. A senior official of the Delhi CEO office said that for the first time, VVPATs (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trails) will be used at all polling stations in Delhi, and in a Lok Sabha poll here.

"We have 20,435 VVPATs for 13,816 polling stations. As per EVMs, we have 34,953 Ballot Units and 19,002 Control Units. VVPATs were used only in Delhi Cantonment in 2015 Assembly polls. They were not used in 2014 Lok Sabha elections," the official said. There are nearly 1.39 crore voters in the electoral roll of the national capital as of now, an increase of nearly two lakh from the corresponding figure on January 18 this year.

The official said that no name can be deleted or old details modified after the announcement of election dates, but additions can be made. "On January 18, the total number of voters in the electoral roll of Delhi stood at 1,36,95,291. So, there is an increase of nearly two lakh voters since then," Singh said.

The total number of male and female voters is 76,61,680 and 62,35,814 respectively. There are 647 third gender voters, he said. Polling stations will be established at 2,696 locations, he said, adding 13,816 polling stations would be set up, with a model polling station in each Assembly constituency.

As per current assessment, there would be 425 critical polling stations, officials said. Delhi has seven Lok Sabha seats and 70 Assembly constituencies, ten seats in each Lok Sabha constituency.

The seven seats are -- New Delhi, South Delhi, West Delhi, North-East Delhi, East Delhi, North-West Delhi (reserved for SC) and Chandni Chowk. According to the Delhi CEO Office, the population of Delhi in 2019 is projected to be 1.97 crores.

In another first for Delhi, the Delhi CEO Office has planned for having several booths staffed only by women during the Lok Sabha elections here to send out a message of women empowerment. Also, in keeping with the Election Commission's mission of 'leaving no voter behind', the Delhi CEO office will provide transport facility to differently-abled residents who, otherwise have no means to travel to polling booths, officials said.

(With inputs from agencies.)