165 women-managed polling stations to be set up in Punjab for elections: CEC - Hindustan Times
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165 women-managed polling stations to be set up in Punjab for elections: CEC

Written by Sharangee Dutta | Edited by Poulomi Ghosh, Hindustan Times, New Delhi
Dec 16, 2021 09:30 PM IST

The announcement was made after a high-level team of the Election Commission of India (ECI), comprising chief election commissioner Sushil Chandra, and more, reached Chandigarh earlier in the day to review the poll preparedness of the state.

At least 165 polling stations, managed only by women, will be established in Punjab for the assembly elections next year, chief election commissioner (CEC) Sushil Chandra said on Thursday.

India’s chief election commissioner (CEC) Sushil Chandra. (PTI/File)
India’s chief election commissioner (CEC) Sushil Chandra. (PTI/File)

The announcement was made after a high-level team of the Election Commission of India (ECI), comprising Chandra and election commissioners Rajiv Kumar and Anup Chandra Pandey reached Punjab's capital Chandigarh earlier in the day. They landed in the city to take stock of the arrangements being done ahead of the Punjab Assembly elections in 2022, news agency ANI reported.

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Speaking to reporters, Chandra said that the maximum number of electors' norm at a polling station in Punjab has also been decreased to 1,200 from 1,500 in view of the ongoing coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic.

The ECI team reviewed the poll arrangements with district election officers or deputy commissioners, commissioners of police (CPs) and senior superintendents of police (SSP) of all 23 districts and also the chief electoral officer of the northern state.

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Chandra said that the ECI has assured all political parties that webcasting will be arranged at all polling stations of Punjab barring the ones located in the border districts, which come under shadow regions, according to the ANI report.

The CEC further stated that as many as 274,177 new voters have been registered in the state for the assembly polls in 2022 and that females have surpassed the 1 crore mark in the voters' list.

“In 2017 Punjab Assembly elections, voter turnout was 77.4 per cent and in 2019, it was dropped to 65.96 per cent. Now…the voter gender ratio has improved from 898 to 902,” Chandra was quoted as saying by ANI.

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The polls for the 117 seats of the Punjab Assembly will be crucial as it's the first one following the resignation of former chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh and his subsequent departure from Congress. The election will also be held following the Centre's repeal of the three farm laws, which drew massive protests from across India, especially from farmers in Punjab.

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