EC eyes polling booths in large housing complexes in West Bengal

Deputy Election Commissioner Gyanesh Bharti held a meeting on Tuesday with DEOs of eight districts over setting up of polling stations in High Rise and gated buildings complex with 300 residents. Meanwhile, TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee-led ten member delegation will meet CEC Gyanesh Kumar in Delhi.

Bharti is on a one-day trip to West Bengal to oversee Hearing and participated in a series of meetings in Bengal during the day. Bharti visited a Hearing Centre in Baguihati in Kolkata to oversee the hearing related work. Hearing has started in Bengal on December 27 and 31 lakh plus are unmapped, who have been called for hearing.

Deputy Election Commissioner Gyanesh Bharti in a meeting with District Election Officers (DEOs), who are also the District Magistrates, of North and South Kolkata, North and South 24 Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly, and East and West Burdwan districts. The meeting was held to discuss the setting up polling stations even in housing complexes or societies with 300 residents. District magistrates were asked to send proposals, people in the know said.


The Deputy Election Commissioner informed the district magistrates that polling stations could be established in housing complexes with 300 residents as well. In the meeting, Gyanesh Bharti inquired why there were fewer proposals from South Kolkata and South 24 Parganas districts regarding setting up polling stations in multi-story buildings.

West Benga- CEO Manoj Kumar Agarwal, Gyanesh Bharti, Principal Secretary-ECI S B Joshi, Additional CEOs participated in the meeting over creation of Polling stations in High Rise and gated buildings with 8 DEOs of the state today at CEO Office, West Bengal.

According to the Commission's previous letter, it was stated that a polling station could be set up in a housing complex and gated complex if it had 500 residents.

Meanwhile, a Trinamool Delegation met WB-CEO and DEC Gyanesh Bharti today. Election Commission has told Trinamool delegation today that WB-CEO has informed the delegation that a list of 1.36 crore voters with logical discrepancies has been provided to the EROs and DEOs, TMC delegation member and MP Partha Bhowmik said.

We have urged that arrangements should be made for virtual hearings for those who are abroad for work or study, Bhowmik said.