One-fourth polling premises in Delhi identified as ‘critical’
14 Oct 2013 5:47 AM IST
About one-fourth of the polling premises for the upcoming Assembly polls have been identified as ‘critical’ by the Delhi election commission (DEC) and will need extra safety and security arrangements. The number of critical polling premises has more than doubled since the last Delhi assembly election.
In 2008, there were 264 such critical premises, but this time around, 634 premises have been identified as critical. According to the data provided by DEC, there are 501 polling premises, which have been identified as ‘low critical’ and another 133 have been termed as ‘high critical’. In 2008, the figures for ‘low critical’ and ‘high critical’ stood at 224 and 40 respectively.
For 70 assembly constituency seats, there are 11,763 polling stations in 2,603 polling premises. Senior officials said that the number of such premises may go up with 4 December fast approaching. The vulnerability mapping of polling premises is a continuous process and will go on till the time the polls are held, the officials said.
Delhi’s chief electoral officer Vijay Dev said, ‘It is a continuous process and being carried out by officials on daily basis. The parameters for identifying an area as critical are political turmoil, percentage of voting in last election, caste or any related issues among others.’ Dev said as far as security measures are concerned, 35,000 Delhi police personnel, 11,788 Home Guards and 82,000 civil staff will be deployed.
In 2008, there were 264 such critical premises, but this time around, 634 premises have been identified as critical. According to the data provided by DEC, there are 501 polling premises, which have been identified as ‘low critical’ and another 133 have been termed as ‘high critical’. In 2008, the figures for ‘low critical’ and ‘high critical’ stood at 224 and 40 respectively.
For 70 assembly constituency seats, there are 11,763 polling stations in 2,603 polling premises. Senior officials said that the number of such premises may go up with 4 December fast approaching. The vulnerability mapping of polling premises is a continuous process and will go on till the time the polls are held, the officials said.
Delhi’s chief electoral officer Vijay Dev said, ‘It is a continuous process and being carried out by officials on daily basis. The parameters for identifying an area as critical are political turmoil, percentage of voting in last election, caste or any related issues among others.’ Dev said as far as security measures are concerned, 35,000 Delhi police personnel, 11,788 Home Guards and 82,000 civil staff will be deployed.
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