One lady cop always posted at each polling booth during ongoing civic elections: SEC

A day after the BJP demanded deployment of women police personnel at polling booths, the state election commission (SEC) said there was already a provision for the deployment of at least one lady cop at each polling booth.

A day after the BJP demanded deployment of women police personnel at polling booths, the state election commission (SEC) on Friday said there was already a provision for the deployment of at least one lady cop at each polling booth.

EVMs ALWAYS KEPT IN SURPLUS

On the complaints about some EVMs developing snags at certain places in the first phase, Agrawal said there was nothing new about it.

“Some EVMs develop snag in Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha polls too. And this is the reason why EVMs are always kept in surplus to immediately replace the faulty ones, if any,” he pointed out. He dismissed complaints about EVM tampering as baseless.

“At least one lady cop is always posted at each of the polling booths during elections to check any suspected female voter and it is being done during the ongoing civic polls as well,” said SK Agrawal, state election commissioner (SEC).

He, however, made no comment on whether the lady cops would verify identities of burqa-clad voters. “I cannot say what they should do. All I can say is that lady cops are already there at booths,” he added.

A BJP delegation that met the SEC on Thursday demanded deployment of women cops at polling booths to verify identities of burqa-clad women to keep a check on possible forged and fake voting by some voters in the garb of veil.

Meanwhile, the SEC held a meeting with senior officials of the home and other departments to take stock of preparations of the second phase of polling scheduled in 25 districts on Sunday.

“We reiterated the same general directions to them to ensure free and fair polls,” said Agrawal.