Loudspeaker is passé, personal contact the in thing
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 29, 2003.
With campaigning for the December 1 Assembly election ending today, the stage is set for polling on Monday. Eight odd million voters are eligible to vote in NCT of Delhi. The Election Commission (EC) has said any candidate trying to violate the restrictions imposed on campaigning would face imprisonment or a fine or both.

The candidates spent the day walking from house to house to canvas for support and holding public meetings in a bid to reach out to as many voters as they could. The evening brought to a close three weeks of intense activity in which political parties wooed the voters with personal contact programmes, traditional long-winded speeches and hi-tech gadgets.

Despite the presence of cinema and television stars, the campaigning has remained a low-key affair in the presence of strict EC regulations. The electioneering this time has remained focussed on public meetings, personal contact programmes and distribution of handbills. The use of vehicles and loudspeakers has been barred by the EC.

Several companies of paramilitary forces have been requisitioned for the smooth conduct of polling. An estimated 55,000 polling officers, assisted by 35,000 security personnel, had been assigned the task for the peaceful conduct of the election. Security would be stepped up along the border with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

Thirty polling stations have been identified as “hyper-sensitive” and 200 polling stations as “sensitive”. There are 84.24 lakh voters eligible to exercise their franchise in the Capital. Votes will be cast using the ten thousand-odd EVMs. The EC has approved as many as 8,900 polling stations in NCT of Delhi.

The EC has also appointed 36 observers for the nine districts of NCT of Delhi – New Delhi (2), South Delhi (5), South West Delhi (4), North West Delhi (5), East Delhi (4), North East Delhi (4), Central Delhi (3), North Delhi (4) and West Delhi (5). Also, three polling officers instead of four, besides a presiding officer, would be deployed.