EC urges Gujaratis to vote without fear

Chief Election Commissioner J.M. Lyngdoh has asked the 32 million voters of trouble-prone Gujarat province to vote fearlessly while urging all political parties to behave in a responsible manner amidst allegations by the opposition Congress party that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) intends to resort to violence on polling day today.

"The Commission expects all political parties will conduct themselves in a responsible manner, check their over-enthusiastic supporters and see that things are kept under control," Lyngdoh, accused by Chief Minister Narendra Modi of indirectly supporting the Congress party, said in an appeal yesterday.

Flanked by Election Commissioners T.S. Krishnamur-thy and B.B. Tandon, Lyngdoh also sought to assure Gujarati voters that adequate security measures have been undertaken to protect electorates while they vote during a press conference he addressed here on the eve of today's state polls.

"The election machinery in the state and the observers are in a position to ensure that your participation is unhindered and you come out and exercise your franchise freely, fairly and fearlessly," Lyngdoh said.

Polling will take place for 181 seats today barring Surat West where polling has been countermanded following the death of BJP candidate Hemant Chapatwala, a junior minister in Modi government.

Lyngdoh, credited for smooth and fair conduct of the recent state polls in Jammu and Kashmir province, listed a series of measures taken up by the Election Commission (EC) to ensure that polling is both peaceful and free.

Besides 200 companies of central paramilitary forces deployed three weeks in advance in order to instill confidence among voters, especially in areas affected by communal riots earlier this year, an additional 180 companies have been provided by the federal Home Ministry for poll duty.

"With the state armed police and the local police available, the Commission is confident that the state administration will not leave any scope for mischief-makers and ensure that people can participate in the poll process without fear and apprehension," Lyngdoh said.

Besides a compact looking security arrangement, among other measures listed by him include appointment of polling staff from outside the district, use of electronic voting machines in all 36,657 polling stations and compulsory identification of voters.

Moreover, Lyngdoh also hoped that the steps to provide 17 diplomats with authority letters and complete access to media, both local and foreign, will also work as a deterrent against any political party indulging in any unfair means.

The EC, as a result of a special revision of rolls, managed to locate nearly 176,000 voters who had migrated from riot-affected areas. They are now eligible to vote at their new places of residence.

Moreover, names of all such voters who could not be traced, continue to remain in the voters list. They will, however, have to produce some kind of identification to be able to vote.

That the EC expects some trouble during today's polling is reflected from its decision to almost double the total number of sensitive polling stations.

As against 7,451 sensitive polling stations in 1998 polls, it has now marked 14,707 polling stations as sensitive, even as number of candidates in fray has gone down this time from 1,125 in 1998 to 1,000.

Besides the impact of communal riots, another reason for this is being attributed to presence of a large number of candidates with a criminal background. According to estimates, nearly 140 out of some 1,000 candidates have criminal records.

Interestingly, while in public both the BJP and the rival Congress party claimed they have surged ahead of the other, BJP sources admit that unlike earlier projections of a two-thirds majority, they now only hope to touch the magical figure of 91 to retain power.