Choppers for Gadchiroli, addl security for ‘critical’ polling stations

The ECI has requested security forces to deploy five helicopters to ferry the election machinery, including Electronic Voting Machines and the workforce

MUMBAI: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has deployed five choppers to ferry poll parties to 300 polling stations in Naxal-affected Gadchiroli, which is going to the polls in the first electoral phase on April 19. The ECI has also identified 394 ‘critical’ polling stations that have reported anomalies and an unusually high voting percentage of up to 90%, with 75% of this being polled by one candidate.

Choppers for Gadchiroli, addl security for ‘critical’ polling stations

The ECI has requested security forces to deploy five helicopters to ferry the election machinery, including Electronic Voting Machines and the workforce. The precautions are being taken for the safety of the manpower and securing the EVMs from any attempt at sabotaging the poll exercise.

“We are expecting MI-17 choppers to be deployed for the election process on the day of voting,” said a government official. “The choppers are expected to make 150 sorties for 300 polling booths identified as sensitive in the Maoist-affected tehsils. The polling in these stations ends two hours before the general voting time, and is an arrangement made to enable the polling parties to return to headquarters before sunset.”

Maharashtra has no ‘vulnerable’ category polling stations or those where voters are scared to cast their vote. It does, however, have 394 ‘critical’ category polling stations, which have a past record of anomalies, including instances of over 90% of voting, of which 75% has gone to a single candidate. The highest number of critical stations are in Satara (65), followed by Dhule (54), Parbhani (42) and Pune (39) among others. While Mumbai city has 11, no Mumbai suburban polling station has been marked in the category.

“There is more deployment of security forces and observers for these polling stations to ensure that the activities reported in the past do not happen,” said the officer.

Meanwhile, there are 97 candidates in the five Lok Sabha constituencies from Vidarbha that are going to the polls in the first phase on April 19. The poll body has appointed five general observers, three police observers and six expenditure observers for the first phase in which 9.6 million voters in five constituencies will exercise their franchise.

S Chockalingam, chief electoral officer of Maharashtra, said that the state authorities had seized or deposited 27,745 licensed weapons and confiscated 190 weapons. Five hundred and fifty-seven weapons without licences have also been confiscated. There are 77,148 licensed weapons in the state. “The police have also taken prohibitory action against 27,685 persons with past records of serious cases,” he said, adding that the state authorities had set up 1656 flying squad teams and 2096 static surveillance teams across the state.