Bengal: ECI unhappy over low number of housing complexes identified for setting up polling booths

Kolkata, Jan 10 (LatestNewsX) The Election Commission of India (ECI) is unhappy over the low number of private housing complexes with 300 or more residents identified so far in Bengal for setting up polling booths for the crucial Assembly elections scheduled later this year.

Sources in the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal, said that so far, only 69 such private housing complexes with 300 or more residents have been identified in West Bengal, far less than the estimated requirement.

Of the 69 such private housing complexes, South 24 Parganas district houses the maximum 25, followed by 22 in the North 24 Parganas district, with both districts being adjacent to the state capital of Kolkata.

Surprisingly, in Kolkata itself, only 10 such housing complexes have been identified, out of which eight are in North Kolkata and two in South Kolkata. This low number of identified private housing complexes in the state capital for setting up polling booths surprised the Commission, sources in the CEO’s office said.

Five such private housing complexes had been identified in Hooghly district, followed by four in another Kolkata-adjacent district of Howrah and three in East Burdwan district.

Not a single such housing complex has been detected in the remaining 14 districts in the state.

Since the Commission floated the proposal for setting up polling booths at private housing complexes with 300 or more voters, a political slugfest started over the issue. The Trinamool Congress vehemently opposed the proposal, with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee even writing to the Chief Election Commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar, opposing the move.

There are arguments both in favour and against the proposal. One argument is that setting up polling booths within housing complexes might cause inconvenience for the residents there.

However, there is a second argument that setting up polling booths within housing complexes will make it convenient for elderly and ailing residents within the complex to cast their votes in the booths within the same complex, instead of travelling a distance to reach the nearby polling booth at any school.

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