Bihar BJP seeks single-phase polls, urges verification for burqa-clad women

Bihar BJP president Dilip Jaiswal on Saturday urged the Election Commission to conduct the upcoming assembly polls in one or two phases and ensure that faces of women turning up at booths in burqas were tallied with voter cards.

Jaiswal, who led a BJP delegation that met the visiting EC team headed by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, also requested adequate deployment of paramilitary forces in areas that were vulnerable to booth capture and intimidation of voters.

"We have urged the EC to conduct the elections in one or two phases. The election process need not be staggered. Also, tallying of faces of voters, especially burqa-clad women, must be ensured with respective EPIC cards so that only genuine voters get to exercise their franchise," he told reporters after the meeting.

"We have also requested that paramilitary forces be deployed in villages with a heavy population of weaker sections like extremely backward classes, a few days in advance and a flag march-like exercise be conducted to instil confidence among the voters," he added.

Jaiswal said that in riverine areas, which have had a history of booth capturing, deployment of cavalry must also be ensured.

"The EC also has a few suggestions for political parties. It said that upon completion of voting, polling agents must obtain Form 17C from the presiding officer. Many times, the agents leave their assigned booths without doing so, leaving the scope for unnecessary disputes later," he said.

"As regards dates, we told the EC that, as per rules, polls can be held after a gap of at least 28 days from the date of announcement. If, for example, elections are announced in a few days from now, then the polls can be held by November 3-4," he said.

The polls should be held on the earliest date possible and not delayed further, he maintained.