Delhi Elections 2015: Have already filed 63 FIRs against political parties, says CEO Chandra Bhushan Kumar

Delhi’s CEO Bhushan Kumar, a 1995 batch IAS officer, is practically living in his Kashmiri Gate office these days before the assembly elections. The 47-year-old speaks about Delhi’s preparations in an interview to Nidhi Sharma. Excerpts:

Isn’t it tough to hold polls so soon after taking over as Delhi’s Chief Electoral Officer?

Delhi has just seen two elections and so the machinery is already in place. We had only 24 hours to put it in motion. I don’t see any difficulty. The drill is very clear. Before this I was in Arunachal Pradesh and that was tougher. We had to worry whether our polling parties had reached safely or not. Delhi is a mega city. The media creates awareness. Flow of information is fast. Reaction time is little.

How are you preparing for the Delhi elections?

The team is in place. Every day we are holding meetings with departments like excise, police and income tax. Then we have flying squads and static teams in place to check violations of model code of conduct. We are holding additional training for all returning officers and assistant retuning officers.

When does the day begin for the team?

It’s a 24x7 job now.

Have the inflammatory speeches by leaders made your task tough?

As former CEC VS Sampath observed in his press conference these elections will see a very hot campaign. We have already registered 63 FIRs against political parties.

Will it not be difficult to implement the model code of conduct?

No, since the awareness level is very high. I agree that court decisions on violation of model code takes time. Just two days back, a member of the political class was held guilty of violation of model code of conduct in 2009 elections. You cannot have Bollywood-style justice in the election system. If that happens, democratic institutions will crumble. We have to go by the book.

How will you check attempts to bribe voters with cash and liquor?

We have just had a meeting with excise department and they are already in touch with excise commissioners of UP and Haryana. There is a set pattern of liquor consumption in a city. The excise department would report any aberration in this pattern.

How will you ensure high polling?

Delhi maintained its high turnout in the Lok Sabha polls too. We are now concentrating on finalising the electoral rolls. After candidates are firmed up, we will move to Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation.

Hasn’t the number of sensitive polling stations increased in Delhi?

Certain polling stations will be marked as sensitive. We are already identifying them and charting out the security plan.