Poll panel to ensure ID cards for Gujarat riot affected

After completing the process of updating electoral rolls in Gujarat, all three election commissioners...

After completing the process of updating electoral rolls in Gujarat, all three election commissioners (Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswamy and Election Commissioners Navin Chawla and S Y Qureshi) are due to visit Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad on Wednesday, October 3. They are scheduled to meet representatives of several political parties in the state the next day.

Elections for the Gujarat Assembly have to be completed before December 26 this year, and political parties have already started scheduling their respective rallies.

The Election Commission has made special efforts to ensure that those displaced in the 2002 riots and still living away from their homes get their photo ID cards and are able to vote. Sources in the Commission said their representatives are in touch with all political parties and several NGOs working in the area to ensure that each voter received the necessary papers. They are yet to receive any complaints of exclusion so far.

Story continues below this ad

However, Leader of the Opposition in the Gujarat Vidhan Sabha Arjun Modhwadia has sent two petitions to the Election Commission this month, alleging instances of the state bureaucracy being “politicised”, and there being a possibility that the ruling BJP would like to use them unfairly to ensure the party’s victory.

The Election Commission in Delhi is said to be looking into the allegations. It has asked its officers for reports and would be making inquiries while the commissioners visit Gujarat next month.