Tag: Sunil Arora

  • Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora asks IPS trainees to be ready for poll duties

    By Express News Service
    HYDERABAD:  In view of elections to be held in four States, Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora asked the IPS probationers of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy to be prepared for election duties and help in ensuring smooth conduct of polls. 

    Interacting with the IPS probationers on Friday, Sunil Arora welcomed the NPA’s move to send the IPS probationers to poll-bound States of West Bengal, Assam, Kerala and Tamil Nadu to understand the election process at the ground level.

    “IPS probationers would soon be working in a very complex ecosystem. Policing is no longer confined to law enforcement. In a rapidly changing environment, policing faces several contemporary challenges which require the force to be extremely agile and well equipped to respond to these new challenges,” he said.

  • Central police forces will play a greater role in poll bound states: CEC Sunil Arora

    By PTI
    CHENNAI: In poll bound states, including Tamil Nadu, the Central police forces would play a greater role as part of measures to ensure fair polls and to see that no one took any undue advantage, Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora said here on Thursday.

    Several measures were being contemplated to ensure inducement free, fair elections to the Tamil Nadu Assembly in view of allegations of inducement of voters in the past and two Special Expenditure Observers would also be deputed, he said.

    The bypoll to the Kanyakumari Lok Sabha seat would be held alongside Assembly polls, he said.

    The seat fell vacant following the death of Congress MP, H Vasanthakumar due to COVID-19 last year.

    The top Election Commission official, wrapping up meetings with senior officials and representatives of political parties here along with his colleagues, expressed confidence of a free, fair and transparent elections.

    In keeping with the best administrative traditions of Tamil Nadu, there shall be no ‘Vellores and RK Nagars,’ he said in an apparent reference to allegations of distribution of cash to voters and the EC’s measures to prevent such attempts.

    It has been decided that for all the five poll bound states including Tamil Nadu, the Central Armed Police Forces coordinator shall be at the apex level of a committee that allocated personnel from one place to the other, Arora said addressing a press conference.

    Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal, Assam and the Union Territory of neighbouring Puducherry are likely to go to polls in April or May.

    The official said that at the district level, the senior most general observer would be part of the exercise on allocation of personnel.

    “This is a major decision we have already taken. It will be formally conveyed to the Chief Electoral Officers in the next two to three days maximum.”

    The decision follows feedback from political parties and a ‘complaint’ that the personnel were deployed by the state governments “wherever they like,” he noted.

    The Commission is trying to put more forces in every state and the coordinator of the Central forces have been assigned a greater role to play in terms of both deployment and allocation of personnel so that no one took any undue advantage when it came to exercise of franchise through postal ballots, he said.

    Referring to a high level meeting today with Central and state regulatory agencies, answering a question, he said the EC has emphasised a lot about measures to ensure inducement free polls.

    “There are several things we are planning to do and we shall do, but I am sorry to say that it will not be possible for me to share a lot of things in public domain…because we have given instructions and we shall be conducting another meeting with senior officers and enforcement agencies after a week or 10 days virtually to review as to what is the outcome of the meeting we held today.”

    The EC is sensitive to alleged inducements, he asserted and recalled cancellation of polls to Vellore Parliamentary Constituency (2019) and bypolls to RK Nagar Assembly segment (2017), the ‘harshest’ action taken by the commission in any state in respect of such allegations.

    On special observers, he said, “because of money factor of inducement in Tamil Nadu, besides the normal observers we send, we have decided to send Special Expenditure Observers (SEO).”

    This would be in addition to district observers, he noted.

    Such SEOs shall be noted for their integrity and would be of the rank of retired secretaries of the Centre and also former chaipersons of the Central Board of Direct Taxes.

    There shall be at least two SEOs and one of them shall be a very senior person for guidance for Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

    The exercise of deputing SEOs was being done on a state to state basis and not followed necessarily eveywhere while in some states, the special focus would be on law and order front.

    The top official expressed displeasure over the work by some regulatory arms of the Tamil Nadu government ahead of the notification of state polls.

    “When we had the meeting of the regulatory agencies, I must say we were quite unhappy with the overall performance of the state excise department as well as the Special DG enforcement. We have brought the relevant facts to the notice of the Chief Secretary.”

    Since the state has excise revenue of Rs 34,000 crore, he said, “we felt that much more could have been done” vis-a- vis matters like the kind of seizures done.

    “…how many decimal points you have to put after the zero, the honourable excise commissioner was not even able to calculate it.”

    He said the EC was very disappointed about not apprehending the ‘big fish’.

    On this matter, he said they were apprised that during enforcement in a particular seizure of almost Rs two crore, the authorities registered 23,000 to 27,000 cases.

    It meant that these were against the “small guys, some drivers, some couriers, the foot soldiers who were being caught and not the big fish.”

    The EC has sought a special report on this matter from the Additional Chief Secretary Home who also looked after the Finance Department, he noted.

    From the previous 68,324 polling stations in Tamil Nadu, there would be 25,000 more now as per the norms to prevent spread of COVID-19 and in total there shall be 93,000 booths, he said adding it also meant mobilisation of more men and materials.

    As regards arrangements for procurement of COVID-19 related materials, the state Chief Secretary has assured that these would be available on time.

    Asked on likelihood of TN elections being held in April or May and if polls would be conducted in a single phase, he said these would be made known later at the time of announcement of elections.

  • EC teams to visit poll-bound Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry after January 26: CEC Sunil Arora

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Election Commission teams would visit Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry after Republic Day to take stock of poll preparations as the three assemblies enter the final leg of their respective terms, Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora said on Monday.

    He said the poll panel is preparing to conduct elections in four states — West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Kerala — and the Union Territory of Puducherry in the near future.

    “The Commission also spent four days in Assam and West Bengal…After January 26, we shall be going to Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry,” Arora said in his address to the 11th National Voters’ Day event here.

    The terms of the legislative assemblies of the four states and Puducherry are ending on different dates in May and June, and polls are expected to take place in April-May.

    The Commission — the CEC and fellow Election Commissioners — usually take stock of poll preparedness before announcing schedules of elections.

    But it visited Bihar after announcing poll dates.

    Arora also reiterated the Commission’s determination to conduct safe and secure elections, which has been lauded by democracies across the world.

    Arora also mentioned how tireless efforts of the election machinery ensured that the facility of postal ballot was extended to persons with disabilities, senior citizens above the age of 80 years, and those quarantined due to COVID-19.

    As the Commission prepares for the polls in 2021, the CEC emphasised the importance of the commitment towards redefining election management in a pandemic.

    In his remarks, Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra said the 11th NVD is being celebrated with a view to enhance electoral participation, especially of new voters of the country and empower them as informed, ethical and vigilant voters.

    He said elections in India are gigantic exercise conducted under superintendence, direction and control of the Commission.

    The exercise has its own challenges in terms of sheer scale, size, diversity and complexity besides logistics, aiming for free, fair and transparent elections.

    “Timelines demand strict compliance with little room for any delays and mistakes. That is what makes our elections sacrosanct and model for others,” he said.

    Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar highlighted the scale and vastness of Indian elections.

    He said that despite the complexity of Indian elections, they are conducted meticulously and on schedule.

  • West Bengal polls: Bike rallies to end after model code kicks in

    By Express News Service
    KOLKATA: Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora on Friday said no bike rally will be allowed in the state once the model code of conduct comes into effect ahead of the assembly elections in West Bengal. He said in case of violations, two-wheelers will be confiscated and released after elections.

    The announcement comes after complaints by opposition parties during previous elections that bike-born party cadres terrorise common electorates. “No motorbike rally will be allowed before the election. Police will be given instructions to seize two-wheelers and keep them in their custody till the completion of the poll process,” said Arora. 

    Meanwhile, on the written complaint from TMC on BSF personnel threatening people to vote in favour of a particular party, Arora said, “I have asked for concrete instances. They’re (BSF) one of the finest forces in the country,” said Arora. The BJP unit wrote to the commission, urging paramilitary forces be deployed at least 15 days before polling day.

    Asked about incidents of violence ahead of the assembly elections in the state, Arora said, “We would like to review events of serious crimes which have political overtones and examine them on a case-to-case basis.” To a related question about the EC taking action against those involved in incidents of hurling stones at political meetings and processions, the CEC said, “The commission can act only after the election dates are announced. We will take a series of measures and not allow bike rallies after the model code of conduct comes into force.”

  • Election Commmission dismisses Trinamool Congress’ allegation of BSF coercing voters​

    By ANI
    KOLKATA: Referring to Trinamool Congress’ (TMC) allegation that the Border Security Force (BSF) is coercing voters to favour one party, Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora on Friday said the remark is ‘unfortunate’.

    Briefing the media, Arora said, “It is unfortunate that a party made averments about the BSF. I have asked for concrete instances. They are (BSF) one of the finest forces in the country. There is no point in castigating any force, ad nauseam.”

    “We had an in-depth interaction with political parties. Most had concerns about law and order situation. They spoke of high voltage electioneering which could precipitate into political violence and threaten to vitiate the electoral process,” he added.

    CEC’s comments came a day after the delegations of various political parties in West Bengal met the top Commission of India (ECI) officials regarding the upcoming Assembly polls. During the meeting, TMC leaders alleged that the BSF was intimidating people in border areas of West Bengal to cast their votes in favour of a ‘particular political party’.

    On the other hand, West Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh urged the ECI to deploy Central Forces in the state at the earliest claiming there is a ‘sense of fear’ among people ahead of elections. Ghosh also asked ECI to take its cognisance of the issue of alleged inclusion of Rohingyas in the voter’s list in the border areas.

    “The political parties wanted optimal deployment of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs). Some political parties also cited anomalies in the electoral rolls,” said Arora.

    After consultations with the Chief Secretary, DGP and Home Secretary of West Bengal, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has decided that there will be no civic police and green police volunteers near any polling station.

    Arora said the number of polling stations has been increased keeping the pandemic situation in mind. “Earlier West Bengal had 78,903 polling stations. Now the state has 1,01,790 polling stations. All polling stations shall be at the ground floor level,” he added.

    To make elections more inclusive, the top ECI officials met with Persons with Disabilities (PwD) icons in Bengal to discuss measures to facilitate PwD voters. The ECI will hold special drives and awareness camps to enrol more such voters.

    Elections to 294 Assembly seats in West Bengal are scheduled to take place in the next few months.

  • Election Commission team to visit Assam from Monday to review Assembly poll preparedness

    By PTI
    GUWAHATI: Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora is scheduled to arrive in Assam on Monday on a three-day visit to take stock of preparations for assembly polls due in March-April, officials said. The CEC will hold separate meetings with senior officials of the state government, including the chief secretary, home secretary, DGP, chief electoral officer and police nodal officer.

    They said that he will also hold discussions with leaders of political parties, election related Central and state regulatory authorities, district election officers and SPs.

    The CEC will be accompanied by Election Commissioners Sushil Chandra and Rajiv Kumar, Director General of the Election Commission of India (ECI) Dharmendra Sharma, Deputy Election Commissioner Chandra Bhusan Kumar, Senior Principal Secretary Narendra N Butolia, Director of Expenditure Pankaj Srivastava and EVM consultant Vipin Katara.

    A six-member team of the poll panel, led by Sharma, had recently visited the northeastern state. Elections to the 126-member Assam assembly are likely to be held in March-April.

  • Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora to visit poll-bond Assam, West Bengal next week

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora, along with Election Commissioners Sushil Chandra and Rajiv Kumar, will visit Assam and West Bengal early next week to take stock of preparations for Assembly polls slated for later this year.

    Deputy Election Commissioner Sudip Jain is already in West Bengal to meet officials. This is Jain’s second visit to West Bengal. Another EC official is in Assam to take stock of the situation there.

    “The two would brief the Commission on Friday and the Commission would visit Assam and West Bengal in that order early next week,” a functionary said.

    It is usual for the Commission to visit poll-bound states before announcing the schedule of Assembly elections.

    But it had visited Bihar after announcing the dates for the last elections. The terms of the legislative assemblies of West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Kerala and Puducherry are coming to an end on different dates in May and June this year.

    The Assembly elections are likely to take place sometime in April-May. The Election Commission had on Tuesday discussed with Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla the availability and requirement of central security forces for the upcoming Assembly elections.

    The meeting held at the EC headquarters here was “primarily to discuss requirement vis-à-vis availability of central armed police forces (CAPFs), and related matters, for the upcoming Assembly Elections to the States of Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, and the Union Territory of Puducherry,” the poll panel had said.