Puducherry, February 25 – Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said on Wednesday that the country is proud of Puducherry for its peaceful elections and also for the high percentage of voter participation in previous elections.
Addressing reporters after holding meetings with the leaders of various political parties and also the officials of the Election Department in the context of the upcoming Assembly elections in Puducherry, the Chief Election Commissioner said that the entire election staff and also the leaders of political parties had assured them that "this time, the Union Territory of Puducherry will be a model for the entire country".
The CEC said that the Commission had framed 20 new initiatives, which included the inclusion of candidates' photos in color, to make voting easier and facilitate easy selection by voters.
Kumar said that the country is proud of Puducherry for its peaceful elections and also for the high percentage of voter participation. In the last Assembly election, the union territory saw 82 per cent polling, he said.
He said that the unanimous opinion of all political parties who had participated in the meeting with the Commission was that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Puducherry was a "grand success".
The CEC said that all the credit should go to the booth-level officers, Electoral Registration Officers, Assistant Electoral Registration Officers, all the District Election Officers and to the Puducherry Chief Election Commissioner, who is the leader of the team.
He said that the objective of SIR is very clear, as it aims at having a pure electoral roll, which is the bedrock of any democracy. No eligible voter should be excluded and no ineligible voter should be included. With this objective, the team of election officers at all levels worked hard. The overall voter strength now at the end of SIR in Puducherry stands at 9,44,211. Women voters, numbering around 5 lakh, outnumber the male voters – 4.43 lakh.
The CEC said that the elections were being held as per the Constitution.
"Officers were told at the review meeting earlier that they should strictly enforce the rule of law without fear or favour. Any inducements, whether in the form of cash or freebies or in any other form, should be curbed," he added.
Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, Puducherry CEO P Jawahar and the District Election Officer A Kulothungan were also present.
The CEC and his team also had a meeting with the Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police of Puducherry.