Eighty per cent of polling booths in internal parts of South Bastar are considered sensitive and ensuring smooth polling in these areas will be a tough task not only for the administration but contestants and political parties too will not have so easy to go out to make contact with the electorate in those areas and in that situation sensitive booths may affect the outcome to a great extent.
According to information, the election commission has declared 75 percent of the 266 polling booths in the district as sensitive while the rest 25 percent booths have been identified as most sensitive.
On the basis of extent of Maoist insurgency the most sensitive booths are no more accessible to political parties in the present scenario.
Though during the last elections, some of these most sensitive polling stations were easily approachable but the May 25 Jeeram Valley massacre altered the situation drastically forcing even field workers to restrict themselves to urbanised pockets only.
Therefore, reaching these polling booths will be hard, if not impossible, for any political party. On the other hand, the administration has geared up to shift sensitive booths to safer places. According to information, to ensure peaceful poll during the ensuing Assembly elections, the administration has decided to shift 41 sensitive booths to other places and has sent proposal in this regard to the election commission.
These booths include Pahurnar, Bhatpal, Korkoti, Munder, Kohchepal, Pondum, Gudse, Telam, Handewada, Hitawada, Cherpal, Gumalnar andother sensitive and most sensitive villages.
Interestingly, during the last Assembly elections on 2008, no need was felt for shifting any booth of the Dantewada Assembly constituency on the basis of insurgency activities and in the Parliamentary poll held in 2009 just one booth was identified as sensitive which witnessed zero percent voting.
In the Parliamentary bye poll in 2011 four booths were identified as sensitive which however witnessed partial voting. Considering these facts, the administration has written to Election Commission for shifting 41 sensitive booths to safer places to ensure normal voting in those areas.