Jaipur. Abhayindia.com The Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced the schedule of Lok Sabha General Elections-2024. As per the announcement, in Rajasthan, voting will be conducted in two phases for 25 Lok Sabha constituencies on April 19 and 26. Bye-election for Bagidaura-165 Assembly constituency in Banswara district will be held during the second phase, i.e. polling for this election will be on April 26. Counting of votes for all Lok Sabha as well as one Assembly constituency will be held on June 4. More than 5.32 crore voters of Rajasthan will be able to exercise their franchise. With the announcement of polls, the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) has also come into effect all across the state with immediate effect.
Chief Electoral Officer Shri Praveen said that with the implementation of the MCC, there would be a ban on transfers and appointments in the state. In case of urgent need, the state government would be able to transfer the officers and employees only after taking approval from the ECI, he stated.
In the first phase, polling will be held for 12 Lok Sabha constituencies, namely Ganganagar, Bikaner, Churu, Jhunjhunu, Sikar, Jaipur Rural, Jaipur, Alwar, Bharatpur, Karauli-Dholpur, Dausa and Nagaur. For this phase, the notification will be issued on March 20. The filing of nominations would start soon thereafter and would continue till March 27. Nomination papers will be scrutinized on March 28 and nominations could be withdrawn upto March 30.
In the second phase of polling for 13 Lok Sabha constituencies Tonk-Sawai Madhopur, Ajmer, Pali, Jodhpur, Barmer, Jalore, Udaipur, Banswara, Chittorgarh, Rajasmand, Bhilwara, Kota and Jhalawar-Baran, notification would be issued on March 28. For this phase, filing of nominations would continue till April 4. Nomination papers would be scrutinized on April 5 and names could be withdrawn till April 8.
According to Shri Gupta, out of 25 Lok Sabha seats in the state, 4 are reserved for Scheduled Caste and 3 for Scheduled Tribe categories, while rest 18 seats are of general category. Central observers will keep an eye on the entire election process and expenditure of the candidates for all 25 Lok Sabha constituencies. Necessary preparations for free, fair and peaceful elections in the state had already been done, he added.
The CEO said that there would be a ban on use of government vehicles, helicopters and aircraft in election purposes. During elections, it would be mandatory to publish the name of Publisher and Printer on any printed material like poster, pamphlet etc.Action would be taken against those printing press owners who do not comply with this rule, under Section 127 (a) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
More than 5.32 crore voters to Exercise Franchise
Shri Gupta said that as per the final publication of voter lists, in Rajasthan, more than 5.32 crore voters have been registered for the Lok Sabha General Elections. This number is about 46 lakh more than the 2019 Lok Sabha General Elections. Of these, 2,77,38,377 are male and 2,54,70,805 female voters. Number of Third Gender voters in Rajasthan is 616. There are 1,41,193 service voters in the state.
In year 2019, 51,965 polling stations were established for polling, whereas this time, the ECI set up a total of 51,756 polling stations along with 1,095 Auxiliary Polling Stations. Maximum 2,611 polling stations are in Barmer Lok Sabha constituency.
Home Voting Facility : First time in Lok Sabha Elections in Rajasthan
According to the CEO, the Election Commission has issued instructions for the Home Voting initiative to be given to a certain category of voters for the first time in Rajasthan during Lok Sabha polls. Senior citizens above 85 years of age and specially-abled voters with more than 40 percent disability would be eligible to avail this facility. More than 11 lakh eligible voters would get this facility as an option during these elections. Booth Level Officers (BLO) would visit door-to-door and provide information regarding home voting to the eligible voters.
Live Webcast at More Than 50% Polling Stations
As per the instructions of the ECI Commission, live webcast of polling process would be done from the polling stations located in sensitive areas. In all, more than 50 percent of the total polling stations, including the auxiliary stations, would have webcast facility. Total number of such polling stations would be over 26 thousand.
Role of IT in Election Management
The Commission has increased the use of IT applications to bring greater participation and transparency in the election process. Complaints about violations of the Model Code of Conduct for election can be made through the C-Vigil app. Information about the candidates would be available through the KYC App. Similarly, information related to various facilities could be obtained while sitting at home through Voter Help Line App, Saksham App or Suvidha Portal.
Women, Disabled people and Youth to run Polling Stations
To increase gender equality and constructive participation of women in the electoral process, In Rajasthan, a total of 1,600 polling stations would be run by women, another 200 polling stations by the Disabled-persons and yet another 1,600 model polling stations would be managed by the young officers.
Election expenditure will be closely monitored
According to the CEO, limit of expenditure for campaign during the elections by a candidate for the Lok Sabha Elections is Rs 95 lakh. The ECI has appointed Observers to monitor the election expenditure. The amount seized in the form of cash, freebies, drugs, liquor and precious metals during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls was Rs. 51.42 crore while during the Assembly General Elections 2023, a total of Rs. 710 crore were confiscated. This year March 1 onwards, the seizure amount by various enforcement agencies has been approx Rs. 100 crore.
● Gender equality: The percentage of registration of female voters in the state is higher than that of male. As compared to year 2019, more than 22.54 lakh female voters have been included in the voter lists. There is an increase of 9.7% in registration of female voters as against an increase of 9.27% in the registration of male voters. During 2019, the gender ratio was 919, which has now improved to 923 in the year 2024.
● Disabled Voters: The state election machinery has made rigorous and commendable efforts to empower about 5.72 lakh disabled voters by identifying them in the voter lists database. There has been a significant increase of 31.3% in the registration of PwD voters as compared to year 2019.
●Focus on Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups: Special efforts have also been made aiming at 100% registration of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) voters, making the electoral rolls much more inclusive. In this process, more than 2.17 lakh voters of PVTG, Nomadic, Semi-Nomadic etc. caste groups were registered in the state.
4,089 Flying Squads and Static Surveillance Teams
The CEO Shri Gupta said that with the implementation of the MCC, there would be a complete ban on distribution of cash, money, gift items like sarees, dhoti, blankets etc., alcohol or narcotics substances. To have a check on this, total 2,019 Flying Squads and 2,070 Static Surveillance Teams had been formed in the entire state.
Static surveillance teams include officers of Income Tax Department, Excise, Narcotics and Commercial Tax Department etc. These teams would work continuously in all constituencies to keep tab on distribution of cash or gifts etc. On receiving information about distribution of liquor and narcotics, surveillance teams and flying squads of the concerned department would reach the spot and conduct search to confiscate illicit material or cash etc.
Vote with EPIC card and 12 other documents
Shri Gupta said that at least 5 days before the polling day Voter information slips having QR code and containing information about polling station, the serial number, polling day and time would be distributed. Still a voter will not be able to give vote only on the basis of voter slip. To cast vote, a voter should show the EPIC card (Voter’s Photo Identity Card). In case of not having the EPIC card, a voterwould be able to exercise her or his right to vote only on showing any one of the 12 alternative documents.
According to the instructions issued by the ECI, the alternate documents include Passport, Driving License, Service Identity Card with photo issued by the state or central government, public sector undertakings or public limited companies to their employees, Passbook with photo issued by the banks or post offices, PAN card, Smart Card issued by RGI and NPR, MNREGA Job Card, Health Insurance Smart Card issued by the Labour Ministry, Pension Document with photo, Government Identity Card issued to the MLAs, MPs or Aadhaar Card. It would be necessary to show one of these documents at the time of polling at booth.
Process of Adding Names of Voters Continues
According to Shri Gupta, the process of adding names to the voter listsis still continuing. Those who have not yet registered can get their names added to the voter list. Supplementary lists will be updated up to 10 days before the last date of filing nomination for the concerned Lok Sabha constituency. Citizens can take help of the Voter Service Portal, Voter Helpline App or BLO App of the ECI for registering their names.
