NEWSLINKS US EDITION COLUMNISTS DIARY SPECIALS INTERVIEWS CAPITAL BUZZ REDIFF POLL THE STATES ELECTIONS ARCHIVES SEARCH REDIFF
Onkar Singh in New Delhi
Chief Election Commissioner Manohar Singh Gill expressed satisfaction on Thursday at the peaceful completion of polling in Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Pondicherry.
While Kerala recorded the highest turnout of 73 per cent, West Bengal came second with 71 per cent. Trouble-torn Assam and Pondicherry registered 65 per cent voting while Tamil Nadu came last with just 58 per cent of the electorate casting its vote.
Polling took place in 824 constituencies spread over the four states and one Union territory.
Speaking to reporters after the polls closed, Gill said that though the media had projected the possibility of large-scale violence during the election, only a few incidents were reported.
"Three people lost their lives in West Bengal and six in Assam. Three of them were paramilitary men who lost their lives in a clash with militants. Considering that over 13.3 million voters took part, this could be termed a peaceful election," he said.
The Election Commission had set up 1,58,000 polling stations and 1,60,000 voting machines were used during the entire process. Of them, 100 machines had to be replaced because of malfunctioning.
Gill claimed that India was ready to teach the United Kingdom a lesson or two in conducting elections using electronic machines. "The Brits claim that they taught us democracy. I can tell [Home Secretary] Mr [Robin] Cook, who visited India recently, that he could learn from us on how to conduct polls," he said with a smile.
He dismissed the claim made by All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief J Jayalalitha that the electronic machines could have been tampered with. "If some junior official made some mistake and the machine malfunctioned, it is another thing. The fact that only 100 machines had to be replaced speaks for itself," Dr Gill said.
He told reporters that a repoll was ordered instantaneously at 11 places in Bengal and 64 in Assam. "As the information trickles in we will get the real picture and by tomorrow we will order a repoll in some more areas," he said.
He strongly defended West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer Sabyasachi Sen for doing a fine job. "Yes, I have heard about the comments made by Kamal Nath of the Congress party against the CEO of Bengal. We have our own assessment of the officer. Not only him, all the five chief electoral officers have done a wonderful job," Gill added.
He conceded that some voters with photo-identity cards were not allowed to vote in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. "We go by the law. Even if you have a photo-ID card, if your name is missing from the voters' list, there is nothing we can do about it. We have to go by the law. I have been telling voters time and again to ensure that their names are in the list and they have the latest photo-ID card in case they have moved to a new place. This year we have removed a lot of people who have been dead for years from our voting lists and that is why some voters have disappeared," he explained.
Gill asked the states of Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, which are due to go in for elections soon, to ensure that photo-ID cards are issued well in time. They should also be ready to use electronic voting machines, he said.
Back to top
Tell us what you think of this report
