n To ensure maximum voter participation in the upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections, the Election Commission has made a provision for over 200 electors of an island off the State's coast to cast their vote in a shipping container, saving them a long journey to the nearest polling station in Bharuch district, Gujarat.
Similarly, a polling station will be set up for Baharatdas Darshandas at Banej, in Gir forest and a team will travel by boat to reach the polling station in Shiyabet on the island as it has no alternative connectivity to the mainland.
Addressing a press conference while announcing the Gujarat assembly poll dates, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said that the shipping container as a makeshift polling station will be set up at Aliabet in the Vagra assembly constituency of the district. The polling station will have basic facilities such as drinking water.
There was no government or semi-government facility available in the village which apparently made it difficult to set up a polling centre. "Our teams trek difficult terrains and forests and travel by boat to reach polling stations set up in remote areas to ensure that no voter is left behind," Kumar said. Gujarat will go to polls in two phases on December 1 and 5 with the counting of votes on December 8 along with that of Himachal Pradesh.
For Shiyalbet, a team will travel by boat to reach the polling station on the island as it has no alternative connectivity to the mainland. The nearest town is Jafrabad, around 15 kilometres way from the island, which has 4,757 voters.
In the Gir forest, a polling station will be set up for Baharatdas Darshandas at Banej. The polling station was set up for the lone voter there in the past too. Three polling stations are also being set up by Election Commission (EC) in Madhupur Jambur in Gir Somnath district for the Siddis.
Siddis, the EC said, are descendants of East African people who came to India during the 14th and 17th centuries and now reside here. Kumar said they are our proud voters. Out of 3,481 voters there, 90 per cent are from the Siddhi community. In a first, special observers are being deployed for accessibility and inclusion in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.