EC trying to include Indo-Bangladesh enclave voters in list

The people living in the enclaves that had been included in the Indian territories will cast their votes for the first time since the Independence as the Election Commission (EC) has started the processes of delimitations of constituencies to conduct the elections.

The EC had published a draft delimitation order and started the processes of conducting the elections in these areas. According to a senior official in the office of the Chief Electoral Officer, there are around 14,864 people living in 51 enclaves that are falling under three Parliamentary Constituencies of Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar and Alipurduar. The Commission has already started the processes of enlisting the names of voters in all the enclaves.

Additional Chief Electoral Officer Dibyendu Sarkar said that the Commission has started the process of delimitations of the Assembly Constituencies under which these enclaves are situated. The Commission is looking into how many of the enclave dwellers are voters. They were taking all the steps so that the people residing in the areas can cast their votes in the forthcoming Assembly elections.

The EC has sought the suggestions and objections if there is any from the people and political parties within March 12. After conducting a thorough analysis, the Commission will take its final call on the matter. Keeping this in mind the Election Commission of India had decided to hold the polls in Cooch Behar on May 5.

When asked about what steps the EC was taking to remove the hoardings of various departments, Sarkar said that the concerned officials were being instructed to take steps in this regard. Various departments who had put up the hoardings will be asked to remove the hoardings. If they fail to remove them within the stipulated time, concerned official of the Commission will remove the banners and hoardings.

On asked if the full Bench of the Election Commission is coming to the state next week to monitor the overall poll preparations in the state, Sarkar said that till now they had received no such message from the Election Commission. It may be mentioned here that the Deputy Election Commissioner Sandeep Saxena on Tuesday held a video conference with the senior EC officials and the District Election Officers (DEO) to monitor the poll preparedness. The election officials were asked on how the central forces have been used, especially in the sensitive areas. The commission had also instructed to arrange special security arrangement in the Left Wing Extremism (LWE) Divisions.