New Delhi: The full bench of the Election Commission convened to discuss the upcoming Maharashtra assembly elections. Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar addressed a press conference on Saturday to outline the commission’s preparations. Kumar announced the launch of “Aaple Mat Aapla Haq,” a programme aimed at ensuring smooth elections. During his Maharashtra tour, Kumar met with 11 parties, including BSP, AAP, CPI, MNS, Shiv Sena, Shiv Sena UBT and MNS.
He said that the parties have requested the election date to be set in the middle, citing some inconveniences experienced in the 2024 general elections that voters should not have to face. He also called for a ban on the circulation of fake news.
Kumar confident of smooth elections
Kumar said that there will be 100,186 polling booths for the Maharashtra assembly elections and expressed confidence that Maharashtra will contribute to the celebration of democracy. He said that discussions with political parties took place over two days, during which parties indicated that elections should be announced after the festivals and celebrations.
The Election Commission said, “We engaged with 11 political parties. Some requested measures to curb the influence of money, while others raised concerns about polling booths being too distant and called for transportation arrangements for the elderly.” He said that some parties requested that polling agents be from the same constituency and demanded a ban on mobile phones at polling booths, along with a prohibition on the spread of fake news. The Election Commission confirmed it had provided information on tackling fake news.
Crackdown on fake news, deepfakes
He said that those spreading fake news on social media and using deep fake technology before the Maharashtra elections would face strict consequences. Apart from that, all helicopters will be carefully checked to ensure a temptation-free election process. He also said that voters have the right to know about candidates’ criminal backgrounds, insisting that parties must provide this information and issue advertisements accordingly.
Important information related to Maharashtra elections:
There are a total of 288 assembly constituencies in Maharashtra.
There are 29 constituencies for SC and 25 for ST.
The term of the current assembly will end on November 26. Assembly elections are to be held before that.
The total number of registered voters in Maharashtra is 9.59 crore.
The number of male voters is 4.59 crore and the number of female voters is 4.64 crore.
The number of third gender voters is 6 thousand.
The number of voters above 85 years of age is 12.48 lakh.
There are 19.48 lakh first time voters.
There are 1,186 polling stations in Maharashtra
There are 9 lakh new women voters.
CCTVs will be installed at 100% booths in the urban area.
CCTVs will be installed at 50 percent of the booths in rural areas.
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