Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar has given indications regarding the dates of assembly elections in Maharashtra. Kumar spoke to the media about this at the conclusion of his two-day tour of the state on Saturday.
Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar has given indications regarding the dates of assembly elections in Maharashtra. Kumar spoke to the media about this at the conclusion of his two-day tour of the state on Saturday. He said that Maharashtra Assembly elections will be held before November 26. The tenure of the 288-member House is ending on the same day. During this, Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Dr. Sukhbir Singh Sandhu were also present. The Chief Election Commissioner said that there are a total of 9.59 crore voters in Maharashtra. In this, the number of male voters is 4.59 crore, while the number of female voters is 4.64 crore. In this, first time voters aged between 18 to 19 years are around 19.48 lakh.
Chief Election Commissioner Rajeev Kumar said that I am confident that Maharashtra will contribute to the upcoming celebration of democracy. He said that we met all the stakeholders including political parties and officials during our stay in Mumbai. Kumar said that political parties have asked us to keep in mind festivals like Diwali, Dev Diwali and Chhath Puja before announcing the election dates. When asked whether elections in Maharashtra would be held in one phase or in multiple phases, he said that you will know later.
The Chief Election Commissioner said that those spreading fake news on social media and using deep fake technology before the Maharashtra elections will be dealt with strictly. There will be 1,00,186 polling stations in Maharashtra Assembly elections. He said that we met leaders of 11 parties including BSP, AAP, CPI(M), Congress, MNS, SP, Shiv Sena (UBT), Shiv Sena. Kumar mentioned areas in and around Mumbai like Colaba and Kalyan which have witnessed the lowest turnout in the Lok Sabha elections held this year. He said that daily wage earners and others in the unorganized sector should be informed by the administration that they will have a paid holiday on the day of voting.
He said that our effort will be to ensure that there is maximum enrollment (in the voter list) and voting during the Maharashtra Assembly elections. Kumar said that we have asked the Maharashtra government to transfer those officers who have been working for more than three years to their home district or present place of posting. Kumar said he has sought a compliance report in this regard in the next few days.
The CEC said it is the voters’ right to know whether a candidate has a criminal background or not. He said that political parties should also tell the people the reasons for fielding such candidates. He said that all helicopters will be checked (during the election campaign) to ensure inducement-free assembly elections in Maharashtra.
Kumar also said that it is the right of voters to know whether a candidate has a criminal background or not. He said that in such cases, political parties should also tell the voters that they are unable to field anyone else.
