EC I-cards must for Assembly polls
?
Sandesh Prabhudesai
3 April 2002
If all goes well, photo identity cards
issued by the Election Commission of India may be made compulsory
for the Goa Assembly polls, scheduled to be held here shortly,
for the first time in the country.
During his two-day visit to the tourist
state on the eve of elections, chief election commissioner
B B Tandon has instructed the officials to intensify the
campaign for total coverage of electorate.
Addressing the media along with deputy
election commissioner Satyon Chatterjee, he informed that
Goa has already supplied photo I-cards to around 56 per
cent of the electorate so far. By setting up taluka-wise
centres and mobile centres, he plans to cover the total
electorate before announcing date of elections.
"We will however see that no voter is denied
right to vote due to any lapse on our part", clarifies Tandon.
The CEC thus plans to decide only after assessing outcome
of the total coverage whether to allow to use other authorised
photo I-cards or also non-photo identity like the ration
card.
Goa is the first state, which has already
experimented compulsion of identity card (including ration
card) successfully during Zilla Panchayat elections in February
2000, thanks to the initiative taken by state election commissioner
Prabhakar Timble. The trend then followed till panchayat
polls held in January this year.
Being a tiny state with hardly 40 constituencies,
the CEC had also successfully held last
Lok Sabha as well as Assembly polls in 1999,
fully with electronic voting machines, for the first time
in the country.
Though the election date is yet to be finalised,
Tandon is clear that the tenth Assembly has to be constituted
before 17 July, when it completes 180 days from the last
sitting of the now-dissolved ninth Assembly.
While several parties have urged the CEC
to hold elections by May end as monsoons arrive here by
first week of June and schools also reopen during the same
time, Tandon assured that the date would be finalised after
taking into consideration weather condition and reopening
of the schools.
He is also keen on constituting all the
state Assemblies before the country elects new President
of India, whose term expires on 24 July.
Tandon also appeared happy that up-to-date
revision of the electoral roll will provide opportunity
to every Goan youth voter, who has completed 18 years on
1 January this year.
