Assam assembly polls to be held keeping in mind Rongali Bihu, CBSE board exams: CEC

Chief Election Commissioner SunilArora Wednesday said the Assam assembly polls will be heldkeeping in mind the Rongali Bihu festival and the process willbe finished before the CBSE Board exams beginning on May four.

The Commission is sensitive towards festivals held in thevarious states ''and we have already taken into considerationthis before coming here for the review meetings'', the CEC toldreporters here.

The political parties during interaction with the full benchof the poll panel had made a plea to keep in view the Bihufestival while deciding the poll schedule to encourage morevoter turnout and also to ensure that the monsoon, whichusually arrives early in the state, is avoided.

Rongali Bihu, also known as Bohag Bihu, is celebrated by thepeople of Assam to mark the Assamese New Year.It is usuallyobserved in the second week of April with the onset of spring.

''The Bihu festival dates will be taken into cognisance andfactored in while drawing up the schedule of election datesaccordingly'', the cec added.

The commission had meetings with Central Board of SecondaryEducation (CBSE) officials to decide on the poll scheduleframework and ''we have decided that the election process willbe finished before the Board exams begin on May four'',he said.

The CBSE board exams are scheduled to start from May fourand end by June 10.

The term of 126-member Assam house is ending on May 31, 2021.

The political parties had also impressed upon the commissionto hold the elections with strict COVID-19 protocols and thiswill be adhered to strictly with the number of auxilliarypolling booths increased in the state, Arora said.

The maximum number of electors at a polling station hasbeen reduced from 1500 to 1000, he said.

Accordingly for Assam, the number of polling stations wouldgo up by about 5000 and likely to be more than 33,000 for theforthcoming elections, the cec added.

The cec said the Bihar assembly polls were held amidst tightCOVID protocols and the officers ''literally burnt midnight oilto ensure its success which was a big leap of faith for us andwe plan to replicate it in other states as well''.

The political parties, keeping in view COVID norms forensuring social distancing,had urged that the number ofpolling booths be increased and list of such auxiliary pollingbooths be made available, in time,so that the parties canorganise their booth committees and logistics in time,he said.

The parties had also stressed on the need for adequatesecurity even at the remote polling stations and deployment ofcommensurate security personnel, he said.

Some representatives drew attention of the commission todeputing observers from outside the state and there is ''anunwritten rule that observers for every election are sent fromoutside the state after due scrutiny. Among them 99.1 per centuphold the sanctity of the constitution while the 0.1 per centof the black sheep are ruthlessly dealt with,'' he said.

If required, special observers will also be deployed insensitive/critical constituencies/districts to monitor andensure that elections are conducted in a totally free and fairmanner, he said.

Among other issues, some representatives of the politicalparties wanted that the expenditure limits be hiked, ElectorsPhoto Identity Cards be distributed well in time and thetimelines for publishing the criminal antecedents ofcandidates in media be made more realistic, the cec said.

Concerns regarding misuse of social media for spreadingcommunal speeches, misuse of government machinery, misuse ofmoney power and COVID-19 protocol violations were alsoexpressed by some representatives, he added.

All the political parties assured the commission of theirfull cooperation in ensuring free, fair and peaceful electionsand ''we expect them to play a positive role in maintainingharmony and to ensure that the COVID-19 protocols aremaintained'', the cec said.

The commission has zero tolerance on misuse of money poweror government machinery and in this regard, a specific meetingwas held with the enforcement agencies to crack the whipwherever required.

The increase in the number of polling stations in turnwould have other logistics and manpower implications and thecommission has directed that assured minimum facilities (AMF)including drinking water, toilets, waiting area and ramps beprovided at all polling stations along with voter assistancebooth, Arora said.

As an extension of AMFs, all polling stations will ensuresocial distancing, sanitising, temperature check, gloves andpolling personnel will also be provided along with COVID kits.

The special summary revision of photo electoral rolls 2021exercise has been completed on January 18 with the finalpublication of the electoral roll.

House-to-house visits were conducted for facilitation ofForm 12 D to senior citizens and persons with disability (PwD)electors so that they can exercise their option for postalballot if they desire, he said.

This will be made available from date of announcementtill 5th day following notification of elections, Arora said.

The auxiliary polling stations would be located at groundlevel and in the vicinity of the main polling station, to theextent feasible, and in consultation with political parties.

The cec,accompanied by Election Commissioners- SushilChandra and Rajiv Kumar- was on a three-day visit to the statefrom Monday to conduct an indepth review of preparedness forthe forthcoming assembly polls in the state.