Political parties in Uttar Pradesh have urged the Election Commission that assembly elections should be held on time, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sushil Chandra said on Thursday. Addressing the media after a three-day visit to poll-bound Uttar Pradesh for a review of the preparedness, Chandra said that there will be no delay in the upcoming polls.resentatives of all political parties met us and told us that elections should be conducted on time following all Covid-19 protocols,” CEC Chandra said at the press conference.
“In view of the increase in the number of voters and also the prevailing pandemic condition, we have decided to set up 11,000 more polling booths to ensure that there is no crowding. With this, there will also be an increase in the number of polling personnel. We are also increasing the polling time by one hour across the state to prevent crowding at polling stations,” he said.
Elections are due for legislative assemblies of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur this year.
The final list of voters will be released on January 5, according to the CEC and he said that voting will be held from 8am to 6pm on the date of polling. The voting period in the UP polls will be extended by an hour to ensure social distancing for Covid-19.
The number of voters per polling booth has also been reduced to 1,250 instead of the earlier 1,500 to ensure social distancing.
“VVPATs will be installed at all voting booths. Live webcasting facilities will be available at around 1 lakh voting booths to ensure transparency in the election process,” said Chandra.
“People above 80 years of age, persons with disabilities, and Covid-affected people who are unable to come to the polling booth, the Election Commission will reach their doorsteps,” said the CEC.
The CEC also revealed that as a result of awareness campaigns, nearly 28.86 lakh new women voters had been enrolled, which is five lakh more than the men.
The poll panel is expected to announce the schedule of next year’s elections in first week of January.
