CEC: Not mandated to hold simultaneous LS,state polls

“Simultaneous LS and state elections is a great idea but unless Parliament and political parties take an initiative,the Election Commission cannot do anything. Our mandate is to hold free and fair elections,” he said here.

Chawla was in Shimla to inaugurate a national-level photo exhibition to mark diamond jubilee celebrations of the Election Commission.

Ruling out e-voting,the CEC stressed on strengthening the concept of booth-level officers (BLOs) to check electoral malpractices and bogus voting. He sought seeking help of the state governments to achieve this. “Every booth should have a separate BLO to oversee and help in the revision of electoral rolls and improving voting percentage. We first tried this in West Bengal,where it proved to be a big success. Subsequently,we got impressive results in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls. We are asking all state chief secretaries to appoint BLOs. Himachal is short of 800 BLOs,” he said while interacting with the media at the Gaiety Theatre.

Chawla also stressed the need to increase the coverage of electronic photo identity cards as part of the electoral reforms process. He said: “India is the only country,where 80 per cent voters have been issued I-cards. There is a need to further increase this coverage; media and voluntary organisations can help in a big way in this area.”

Replying to queries on electronic voting machines (EVMs),the CEC said: There is nothing wrong with voting machines. This is a revolution India can feel proud of. A number of countries have sent delegations to the Election Commission to study EVMs,their use and benefits. I can list the countries that are ready to replicate the model.”

On increasing the voting percentage during different elections,Chawla exhorted the youth to create mass awareness with the help of social organisations. “There is a huge percentage of people aged between 18 and 23 years,and the so-called elite voters,who don’t come to vote in urban areas,” he added.

Chawla also spoke on the issue of “paid ads” in newspapers and asked the people to send complaints to the Election Commission on this,assuring to look into the matter.