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Lok Sabha Elections 2019: Punjab asks for 200 paramilitary companies for peaceful conduct of polls
Lok Sabha Elections 2019: Punjab chief electoral officer S Karuna Raju said seven teams will monitor the elections process at district headquarters and each assembly constituency will have 11 such teams.
The Punjab chief electoral officer has sought more than 200 companies of paramilitary forces for the peaceful conduct of Lok Sabha polls in the state scheduled for May 19. The paramilitary forces required for the forthcoming polls may go up depending on the sensitivity.
For the first time, all electronic voting machines (EVMs) will have voter verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines to ensure smooth and transparent functioning of the EVMs.
Talking to the media on Sunday, Punjab chief electoral officer S Karuna Raju said as many as 23,213 polling stations will be set up in the state for Lok Sabha elections. He said the commission was also in the process of identifying vulnerable voters, which were 1,061 in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls and 1.32 lakh in the 2017 assembly elections. He said video recording and webcasting will be done in 50% polling stations across the state.
Raju said ₹243 crore will be spent on conducting polls in Punjab of which 80% will go as remuneration to the polling staff. He said ₹60 crore will be spent in security arrangements and ₹13 crore on poll-related awareness campaigns.
The model code of conduct has come into force and will continue till May 25.
Of the 13 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state, Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Jalandhar, Patiala, Ludhiana and Bathinda have been declared expenditure sensitive, meaning that candidates are likely to spend more than the permissible limit of ₹70 lakh.
The election panel is also assessing sensitive polling stations in the state. In 2014, as many as 4,254 polling stations were declared sensitive and 2,470 vulnerable in the state. In 2017 assembly elections, 2,470 polling stations were sensitive and 4,741 vulnerable.
Raju said seven teams will monitor the elections process at district headquarters and each assembly constituency will have 11 such teams. These teams will also keep a tab on candidates’ bank transactions and also check the flow of cash. No person will be allowed to carry more than ₹50,000, said Raju.
Meanwhile, immediately after the announcement of the Lok Sabha polls, Punjab chief electoral officer S Karuna Raju stayed the transfer of 243 deputy superintendents of police (DSPs) for which the orders were issued on Sunday afternoon.
“As the model code of conduct has come into force, all police officers have to seek permission from the election commission before joining the stations allotted to them,” Raju said.
“The district police chiefs will send report to our office after which we would refer the matter to Election Commission of India. On clearance from the ECI these officers can join their new stations,” Raju added.
