Arms off: Poll booths off-limits for security men, orders EC

However, when asked specifically about the Prime Minister’s security arrangements as required by the `Blue Book’, Deputy Election Commissioner Subas Pani declined to go into the details.

Quoting the relevant clauses of the Arms Act 1959, Pani said, “No person, other than the returning officer, the presiding officer, any police officer and any other person appointed to maintain peace and order at the polling station who is on duty… shall, on polling day, go armed with weapons within a radius of 100 metres of the polling station.”

The usual practice of candidates and their supporters enteringor going near polling stations along with their security personnel was a clear violation of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, Pani said. The Commission has advised candidates not to choose as their polling or counting agents persons who are entitled to security cover and who therefore may not be able to go near the polling or counting stations freely. “This rule will be enforced rigorously”, said Pani, adding the intention is to ensure that there is no intimidation of polling officers, candidates or voters by gun-toting security personnel.

The EC also spelt out its plan to deal with candidates with known criminal backgrounds but who may not have been convicted in a court of law, and therefore escape the provisions of Section 8 of the RPA which bans convicted persons from contesting the polls. In instructions sent to the Chief Electoral Officers of all states, the EC said each CEO would have a number of video teams at his disposal to record any untoward incident in sensitive constituencies.