The Election Commission has deputed a nine-member team to the riot-hit areas of Gujarat to assess whether the law and order situation is conducive and the state machinery ready for early elections.According to EC sources, the team headed by deputy election commissioners A.N. Jha and S. Mendiratta will start functioning on July 31 from Ahmedabad with a tentative deadline of six days. They are expected to file a report on return to the Capital based on which a final decision on the polls will be taken.The team will break up into three groups which will visit as many riot-hit areas as possible. One of their concerns is to account for the number of voters who have lost their lives during the riots and revise the electoral list accordingly.‘‘The brief is to visit the places ourselves, talk to the people who have been affected and find out what needs to be done. It is only then that we will know how long will it take for full poll preparedeness,’’ said an EC official. ‘‘It is our responsibility to make sure that not a single valid voter is deprived of his voting right.’’‘‘The team is going with an open-mind. Anyone who is interested in giving information, including NGOs, activists or people, can approach us. It is not that we will be dealing only with the government and the politicians,’’ the official said.The team will also hold meetings with the police and the victims. ‘‘We want to know the people’s mindset, especially those affected by the riots,’’ an EC official said.Most political parties have been against early polls saying that a large number of people have been displaced in the violence. While many of them are still in relief camps, those who may have returned home may not be confident enough to go out and vote. ‘‘We plan to visit most of the relief camps. These visits will give us an insight into how we can hold fair and free elections,’’ the official said.Asked how will the team include in the voters’ list victims who have lost documents in the riots, one of the officials said: ‘‘Earlier, we used to specify a list of documents that the voters can produce if they do not have an EC identity card. But this being a special situation, we have to work out a way for including all the displaced voters in the lists.’’EC sources point out that the team will also look into the viability of opening polling booths in the relief camps.
