Insult to injury: 837 booths with 150+ deletions ‘super-sensitive’

Kolkata: Rubbing salt into the wounds of residents of Kolkata North Parliamentary constituency, where hundreds of booths have 150 or more voters deleted from the electoral roll in the SIR exercise, the EC has decided to declare those booths "super sensitive", apparently fearing that the omitted voters might stage a demonstration.The EC was apprehensive that the large number of residents from the constituency, who were left out of the voter list, might take to the streets to vent their anger against the deletion, said Smita Pandey, DEO, Kolkata North, on Monday. "The commission has identified 837 out of the 1,835 booths under Kolkata North Parliamentary constituency as ‘super sensitive'. Out of seven Assembly constituencies under Kolkata North, Shyampukur has the maximum number of such super sensitive booths (80)," she added.According to Pandey, besides deletion, "troublemongering, law violation and booths in densely populated locations" are factors that were considered before taking the decision to award the ‘super sensitive' tag to the booths. An EC official conceded that the number of ‘super sensitive' booths was quite high, given that they constituted around 48% of the total booths.The EC has also declared 264 polling premises out of the 583 across seven Assembly constituencies as super sensitive. Pandey said the EC was also planning to use drones in the densely populated lanes and bylanes of northern parts of the city "to ensure free and fair elections".Kolkata Police commissioner Ajay Nand, who attended a press conference conducted by the DEO, Kolkata North, said cops, in coordination with central force jawans, had started route marches in every nook and corner of the city as part of a confidence-building measure. "We are committed to creating an environment for genuine voters who can go to a polling booth and exercise their franchise without fear or intimidation," said Nand. Preventive arrests were also being carried out, and unaccounted-for cash was being seized to ensure a free and fair poll, said the Kolkata Police commissioner.Randhir Kumar, DEO, Kolkata South, said out of 1,093 polling stations in four Assembly constituencies under the Kolkata South Parliamentary seat, more than 400 were identified as "critical" or "vulnerable". Kolkata South Lok Sabha constituency has seven Assembly segments — Bhowanipore, Rashbehari, Ballygunge, Kolkata Port, Behala East, Behala West and Kasba. Of these seven constituencies, Bhowanipore, Rashbehari, Ballygunge and Kolkata Port fall under the jurisdiction of DEO, Kolkata South. The remaining three constituencies are under the jurisdiction of DEO, South 24 Parganas.Kumar also announced that enforcement agencies had seized unaccounted-for cash and items, valued at Rs 8.9 crore so far, including Rs 80 lakh recovered earlier in the day. Also, 32 arms and 83 rounds of ammunition were seized.Around 30 companies of CAPF were deployed in the city to ensure a free and fair poll, Kumar added.
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