Politico-criminal writ behind the security facade

In the state, the writ of feudal lords and criminals, who work as henchmen of various politicians during elections, run large. Also, the state hardly has any Left wing extremist elements to speak of. They usually work as a counter force against dominant players.

Silent booth capturing is ensured in two ways. “Legitimate voters are forced to stay away from booths controlled by feudal lords and dons. Another way is to use fraudulent means to cast the votes of people belonging to weaker sections. It not only restricts the votes of opponents, but also puts the beneficiary of silent capturing in a position of advantage,” a senior IPS officer said.

Figures available with the state police office support the claim that the practice exists. In the 2002 Assembly elections, a total of 161 cases of poll-related violence (Allahabad 20, Hardoi 10, Etawah 13, Pratapgarh 8 and Agra 8) were lodged in 39 districts while the 2004 Lok Sabha elections saw 170 such cases registered in 26 districts. “The figures stated that majority of the districts remained free from poll related violence. But it also confirmed that booths were silently captured in many places,” a UP Police source said.

Ironically, Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav’s home district of Etawah topped the list of places where silent booth capturing is rampant, registering 43 cases during the Lok Sabha elections. In eastern Uttar Pradesh, Mau MLA Mukhtar Ansari’s native Ghazipur clocked 15 cases in 2004.

Meanwhile, according to the EC’s plan for the Assembly elections, all polling centres will be manned by paramilitary forces. And it will be the first time that the local police will be kept away from booth duty in UP. But poll observers fear that the decision to keep the police away may backfire. “The nexus between the village-level booth managers and the local police is an open secret. The police may join hands with the goons to stop people from going to the booth,” another senior IPS officer said, adding, “It is the same police which is infamous for not lodging cases of atrocities on weaker sections in various parts of the state”.

The EC seems aware of the situation. Additional election officer D Chaturvedi agreed there is a need to boost the confidence of socially weaker sections to allow them to cast votes without fear. According to him, necessary instructions have been given to district administrations to keep watch on areas inhabited by the socially weaker sections. “Weaker sections do not mean any caste. Anybody can belong to weaker sections,” he added.

Chaturvedi said the EC was taking the aid of technology to check malpractices. “The EVM machines will help us keep track of the number of votes cast at particular time. If the EC so desires, a printout can be taken. Thus the presiding officer will have to reveal the voting pattern,” he said.

Meanwhile, the presence of more than nine lakhs arms license holders in the state was likely to create problems for the commission. The government has already stopped the practice of forcing arms license holders to surrender their arms to police stations during elections.