Given the increased security threat posed by Naxals during the Lok Sabha polls, the Chhattisgarh State Election Commission (SEC) has adjusted its strategy compared to the Assembly polls held last November. There has been an increase in the number of critical polling stations and those scheduled for relocation, as well as an uptick in the expected helicopter drop-offs.
A senior SEC official said that due to better visibility during the summer months when the Lok Sabha polls are scheduled, the Maoists are more active and target those from the administration necessitating such changes.
“As many 1,726 polling stations — all in the Maoist-affected Bastar region — have been marked as critical this time compared to 1,670 such polling stations during the Assembly polls. The number of polling stations marked as ‘vulnerable’ will however remain the same at 109,” said the official.
The ECI definition for critical includes several quantifiable parameters such as voter turnout below a certain threshold, past incidents of violence, more than 75% of the eligible votes being polled for a single candidate etc, explained the official, adding that the “vulnerable” tag is based on an on-ground analysis of the situation by the police and the local administration.
The official added that the number of relocations — i.e. polling station being taken further away from a village due to threat — will be almost doubled from 151 in the Assembly elections to 289 this time.
Violent incidents
Several violent incidents were reported during the Assembly election phase in which security personnel and election staff had both been injured. Such situations often necessitate additional deployment and added measures like the security and ECI officials avoiding road transport in the interior regions.
“We will be hele-dropping 1,009 personnel at 167 polling stations, the corresponding numbers during the Assembly polls being 863 and 156 respectively. While we aim at increasing the turnout, the safety of the staff is paramount,” said the official.
The Bastar region has two Lok Sabha constituencies — Bastar and Kanker. While all the Assembly segments of the two seats went to polls on the same day, i.e. on November 7 last year, and the Lok Sabha polls were also held on the same date in 2019, this time the elections will be held on two different dates. The Bastar seat will go to polls on April 19, while the people of Kanker will cast their votes on April 26. Not clubbing the two constituencies together in a single phase will allow better preparations this time, the official added.
In total, Chhattisgarh has 11 Lok Sabha seats for which there are over 2.5 crore eligible voters, out of which there are nearly 1.18 crore male and over 1.32 crore female voters are registered.
