Nagaland election will be delivered before the end of current term, CEC

Says Constitution clearly provides and mandates that an elected govt has to be in place before the end of the term of the assembly

Morung Express News
Kohima | January 15

The Election Commission of India (ECI) team by Chief Election Commissioner, Rajiv Kumar has made it clear that election will be delivered before the end of term of the current assembly.

Responding to queries during a press conference held this evening at De’ Oriental Grand, Kohima, Kumar said that the term of the current assembly is ending in March 12, 2023, and the Constitution clearly provides and mandates that an elected government has to be in place before the end of the term of the assembly.

On the call for ‘Solution, not Election’ as well as the separate statehood demand raised by the ENPO, Kumar stated, “if it (election) doesn’t happen, it will cause different kinds of its own problems. The ECI is mandated in the Constitution to conduct election, and the results declared, so that the duly elected government is in place, and we are duty bound to do that.”

He also firmly added, “We will deliver the elections whatever calls there are, and it doesn’t affect the political process.”
When queried on the announcement of election date, Kumar said it will be decided only after submitting the feedbacks, followed by a meeting.

On the issues of declaration of ‘consensus candidate’, he stated that this is not a practice which is recognised and “therefore, there would be no validity to this in a democratic process.”

Brief overview of poll preparedness
The ECI team on its visit to the state for review of poll preparedness for the forthcoming assembly elections in Nagaland 2023 iterated that it is committed to conducting the upcoming state assembly elections in a free, fair, peaceful and inducement-free manner. 

Presenting a brief overview of the poll preparedness for the upcoming elections, Kumar informed that so far over 13.09 lakh voters are registered in the state with over 30,000 first-time voters to participate in the forthcoming elections. (See table)

For the upcoming assembly elections, 2315 polling stations will be set up across 60 ACs with 531 in urban areas and 1784 in rural areas. It was informed that 10 polling stations will be for Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) and women will be in command in 196 PS where all polling officials including security staff will be women.

Facilities for PwDs, senior citizens
The ECI commission has also assured minimum basic facilities to be available in all polling stations. These include ramps with proper gradient, drinking water, waiting shed, toilet with water facility, , adequate arrangement for lighting, as well as availability of volunteers to assist voters, among others.

Besides, Kumar said all arrangements will be made at the polling station for the convenience of senior citizens and PwD voters where PSs will be made on the ground floor and postal ballot facility for 80 years+ and PwD voters to vote from the comfort of their homes.

Identification of voters
To facilitate voters participation in myriad ways, in the absence of voters card, it was informed that voters can cast their votes with 12 approved documents like Aadhar card, PAN card, Indian passport, MGNREGA card, driving license, pension documents, passbook with photo by bank/post office, smart card issued by RGI under NPR, health insurance smart card, Unique Disability ID (UDID) card etc.

Kumar said it has gone to the last mile to ensure that no voters are left behind by setting up polling stations in remote and isolated places like PS – 30/60 Pungro-Kiphire AC and PS 07/44 Phomching AC in Longwa village located in Indo-Myanmar border.

Vigil app to check malpractices
To ensure free, fair and inducement-free elections, Kumar said citizens can report any kind of electoral malpractices to ECI through ECI’s cVigil App – a single app for recording, reporting and resolving with GIS location.

Any complaint made to this app will be responded in 100 minute timeline, he informed adding that if the citizen wants, he/she may not give names and can remain anonymous.

Tech-enabled process
Also to ensure tech-enabled transparent process, Kumar informed that one can check their names in the electoral roll by login in to nvsp.in or downloading the voter helpline app, and can check their polling booth and BLO details as well.

Further, ECI Suvidha Portal (suvidha.eci.gov.in) will provide online nomination and affidavit facility to candidates/political parties. Permission for rallies, meetings etc can also be applied online through this portal, he informed.

Besides, for informed voting, the candidate’s affidavit with all the details including criminal antecedents, if any will be made available on the KYC App of ECI and affidavit.eci.gov.in portal.

He also briefed on the meetings with various agencies of the state for a robust mechanism for inducement free election to work in a coordinated approach, and mapping of expenditure sensitive constituencies.

Source: https://www.morungexpress.com/nagaland-election-will-be-delivered-before-the-end-of-current-term-cec