Punjab elections in Jan-end or Feb first week, says CEO
Wednesday, 07/09/2016
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IN ELECTION MODE Revision of rolls from today, 10-lakh voters yet to be registered.
CHANDIGARH: The Punjab elections are likely in January-end or the first week of February in 2017, state chief electoral officer VK Singh has said hereon Tuesday.
The Election Commission (EC) will announce the dates by the end of this year. The previous elections to the 117 seats were in January 2012 and the results came out in early March after polls in the other states got over. “The election department is going to revise the electoral rolls from September 7 to October 7,” said the CEO. “The objective is to include all eligible voters by January 2 before the nomination starts.”
Of almost 11.5 lakh population in the age group of 18 to 19, only 95,022 youth are on the electoral rolls. It means more than 10 lakh are still to be registered.
The 2016 data put Punjab’s population at 2.95 crore. “There must be 1.99 crore eligible voters (above 18) but only 1.92 crore have signed up with us. We are trying to get as many more as possible,” VK Singh said. “In the 2014 parliamentary elections, Punjab had 1.96-crore voters. After Aadhaar-based screening, nearly 4-lakh votes were deleted, as these were either duplicate or of dead people.” The CEO regretted that the youth wasn’t much interested in signing up as voters. “We are taking a special campaign to colleges and youth hangouts to enrol new voters,” VK Singh said. BAN ON TRANSFERS The Election Commission of India has banned the transfers of electoral registration officers and staff from different departments. DRAFT ROLLS HANDED OVER TO PARTIES
VK Singh met the representative of all political parties on Monday to inform them about the revision programme and handed them soft copy of the draft electoral rolls of 117 assembly constituencies.
The coming elections have a new factor — the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) — which is posing a challenge to traditional rivals Akali-BJP alliance and the opposition Congress.
Last week, cricketerturned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu announced a new political outfit, Awaaze-Punjab.
Ruling since 2007, the Akali-BJP combine will take its third shot at power.
