E-Paper
Steps taken for ‘absolutely Covid safe’ elections; use democratic right: CEC
Chief election commissioner(CEC) Sushil Chandra said that holding elections in the past two years amid the coronavirus pandemic had proven to be “extremely challenging”.
Prefer HTon Google
Weeks before the assembly elections begin in five states, chief election commissioner(CEC) Sushil Chandra on Monday said that all necessary arrangements have been made for “absolutely Covid safe” polls and urged voters to exercise their democratic right enthusiastically.
Chandra also said that holding elections in the past two years amid the coronavirus pandemic had proven to be “extremely challenging”.
“For the last two years, the Covid-19 pandemic has made the conduct of elections far more challenging. It is with the confidence and the support of the voters that we have managed to conduct six assembly elections and many more by-elections,” he said in a video message to the public on the eve of the 12th National Voters’ Day.
Referring to the elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Punjab and Manipur to be held in seven phases between February 10 and March 7, he said the poll panel has emphasised on increasing the pace of Covid-19 vaccination in these states.
The CEC also pointed out that the number of voters in the country stood at 95.14 crore as against 17.3 crores during the first ever national elections in 1951-52.
“Voters are our true heroes, our true inspiration. This year marks 70 years of India’s independence, which began with 17.3 crore voters. Now, we have 95.14 crore voters, of which over 49 crore are male and 45 crore are female. We also have 1.72 crore newly registered voters this time,” he said.
The Election Commission came into being on January 25, 1950, a day before India became a republic. For the past 12 years now, January 25 has been celebrated as National Voters’ Day.
The theme for this year’s National Voters’ Day is ‘Making Elections Inclusive, Accessible and Participative’.
