Kolkata, Dec 10 (LatestNewsX) – The Election Commission of India (ECI) expressed strong disappointment after receiving no proposals from district magistrates or district electoral officers (DEOs) for using private high‑rise housing estates as polling sites for the upcoming state assembly elections next year.
In a stern letter to the West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), the Commission warned that the lack of any polling‑station suggestions amounted to a serious breach of the DEOs’ statutory duties under Sections 25 and 160 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. “The DEOs are also liable under the said provisions for any lack of sufficiency of polling stations for electors in the above‑specified residential colonies,” the ECI wrote, a copy of which LatestNewsX has.
The message went on to say that after the draft electoral roll is published on December 16, all DEOs must immediately survey high‑rise buildings, group housing societies, resident welfare association (RWA) colonies, slums, and gated communities with at least 250 houses or 500 voters. They should catalogue the rooms on the ground floor and pinpoint any that could serve as polling booths.
“Additional polling stations in slum‑dwelling clusters shall also be assessed. Thereafter, the proposals for rationalisation/re‑arrangement of polling stations, including proposals for polling stations in the high rises, group housing societies, slums, etc., based on such assessment, shall be sent for the Commission’s approval through your office, latest by 31 Dec 2025,” the ECI stated.
Earlier, Trinamool Congress and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had opposed the idea of setting up new booths inside private housing complexes. The CM sent a letter to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar last month, questioning the ECI’s plan for interior polling places. “This proposal is deeply problematic. Polling stations have always been, and must remain, located in government or semi‑government institutions, preferably within a 2 km radius, to ensure accessibility and neutrality. Private buildings are typically avoided for clear reasons: they compromise fairness, violate established norms, and create discriminatory distinctions between privileged residents and the general public— the haves and have‑nots,” the CM’s letter read.
BJP Information Technology Cell chief and party’s central observer in West Bengal, Amit Malviya, rebuffed the CM’s concerns, noting that any venue can become a polling station if it guarantees easy access for all voters. “Similar booths have been set up in high‑rise buildings in Delhi and elsewhere. So why is it suddenly troubling you that the ECI is creating additional booths to make voting more convenient? No booths are being taken away from existing voters. So do explain: What exactly is upsetting you — the increase in voting access, or the collapse of the narrative you’re trying to build?” Malviya asked.
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