Election commission will keep a close watch on then social media during the UP state assembly elections in 2017.
Deputy election Commissioner Vijay Deo, touring the state ahead of the assembly polls when asked about the frequent misuse of social media during the campaigning and also about the hate speeches of the leaders, he said that a special cell has been set up by the state police to monitor all the social media posts and any misuse would be strictly dealt with and the poll panel will also monitor this media.
Vijay Deo is in the state for the past several days ahead of the visit by the Chief Election Commissioner(CEC) Nasim Zaidi to UP next week to review the poll preparedness for the 2017 assembly polls next week.
Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday Vijay Deo said that the Election commission for ensuring free and fair poll, would keep a close watch on the junior functionaries of the civil and police administration in the districts like the Station officers of the police stations and tehsildars.
``The local police and the government officials would be under the scanner of the Election Commission besides there would be special monitoring by central agencies over possibility of use of money ,liquor and muscle powers during the polls,” he said.
The election commission official also held video conferencing with all the 75 districts on Tuesday. He had also visited the Sitapur district on Monday to take stock of the poll preparations and to assess the ground reality in the district.
He said that the CEC would be visiting UP next week when the Commission would disclose the approximate timing of the UP election dates and whether it would be held along with other states or not. Expressing his satisfactions on the poll preparedness in UP, the Deputy Election Commission said that all the officials of the districts have shown keen interest in the ongoing summary revision of the electoral rolls.
He said that already several directives have been given to the UP government to transfer officials and policemen posted more than three years in one place or if they are in their hometown.
“Commission will be observing the activities of the officials and police at the booth level during the elections and will ensure that they do not influence the voters “ he said while adding that ``vulnerability mapping would be done to identify the trouble probe areas and nodal officials of the rank of ADG and IG will be deployed to maintain law and order and for better coordination with the central forces’’.
He said right now the priority for the Commission is to ensure fool proof voter list without errors besides the facilities to be provided to the voters at the polling booth. The booths have been upgraded from Basic Minimum Facilities (BMF) to Assured Minimum Facilities (AMF) with special thrust to the disabled and women voters.” He said in 2017 elections, the poll panel may also use token system for voting where there is a long queue and hence voters would not have to wait in the sun or rains,” he said.
“For maintaining transparency in the use of the EVMs and the representatives of the political parties would be invited in every district to check the machines and efforts would be made for ensuring smooth flow of postal ballots so that the security forces deployed in the polling duty and the officials were not denied of their franchise,” he said.
The summery revision of the electoral rolls will continue till October 31 and the final rolls would be published on January 2, next year.