Digital cameras for Bengal polls

      Kolkata: In an effort to keep electoral malpractices at bay during the West Bengal Assembly polls, digital cameras will be used at those booths where voters do not posses photo identity cards and which have been marked sensitive. The decision to install digital cameras was taken by the Election Commission in order to detect cases of impersonation, keep a record of voters without photo identity cards, and prevent bogus voting. According to Chief Electoral Officer Debasish Sen, the Commission has already procured 3,000 digital cameras through the West Bengal Government for the five-phase assembly polls beginning on April 17. The Commission has, however, decided not to disclose the booths where digital cameras would be used, citing security reasons. In the first phase, about 12,000 booths in the maoist-hit districts of Bankura, Purulia and West Midnapore would also go in the polls. The second phase will be held on April 22, third on April 27, fourth on May 3, and fifth and the final phase on May 8. Counting of votes will be done on May 11 and May 20 is the date before which the Election will be completed.

Maoists' boycott threat in Bengal

     Midnapore (West Bengal): The people in West Bengal's Midnapore district, a hotbed of Maoist rebellion, are a terrified lot these days in the wake of the poll-boycott call given by the Maoists here. Leftist rebels in the district have threatened anyone who votes in the forthcoming assembly elections will face dire consequences, said the villagers. The villages wear a deserted look, as the scared villagers prefer to remain indoors ahead of the polls in the first phase on April 17. Fear-struck men and women who have been facing the rebel threat for years, say they would not like to venture out to vote as even political leaders have ignored the region in their election campaign. "They (Maoists) had come here and asked us to boycott the polls. We have not decided what to do yet. No political party or any leader has come here to campaign," said Karamchand Mahto, a villager. Authorities, however, say they are ready to thwart any untoward incident during the polls. "I think people will come out, they'll vote and Maoist will not be able to create any impression in this regard and it will be conducted peacefully," said Ajay Nanda, Superintendent, Midnapore. West Bengal is gearing up for an almost month long poll process that starts on April 17 through May 8 for 294 assembly constituencies. Maoists say that they are fighting for peasant rights and radical re-distribution of land. They have traditionally targeted rich landowners and government offices, besides boycotting elections.

Candidates with similar names

     Ernakulam (Kerala): It is not the summer heat or the election fever that is giving sleepless nights to candidates of the Congress and the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M)-led fronts in several constituencies in Kerala, but the presence of dummy namesakes. Many namesakes of official party candidates have filed nomination papers with the aim of eroding the prospects of the latter, allege poll pundits. Appeals have been made by the Congress led United Democratic Front (UDF) and CPI (M) led Left Democratic Front (LDF), to poll officials to direct some candidates to amend their names. While some have been asked to delete their initials and attach family names, others have been directed to expand their initials. In the 2001 elections, 43 candidates suffered the consequence of this anomaly. This time too, the Election Commission has received a large number of applications. Some candidates have been asked to add the name of a place or a constituency, or their father's name, or the name of their house etc.

     Kerala's former Food Minister and Congress candidate G.Karthikeyan, who represents the Aryanad constituency, is a victim of all this. He has, therefore, changed his name to G. Karthikeyan Aryanad. "We'll face it politically, no problem about that. But I'll have to change to another name, I may have to add something, like my father's name, my place or something. Constituency's name also will do. On the election ballot or the election box my name will be G. Karthikeyan Aryanad, which is my constituency," said G. Karthikeyan. "Me and my father have worked for a party. While in college I too was active in politics. We have a lot of relatives in Aryanad. My father is in Madurai now. I read about the same name controversy in the newspapers, I didn't know much, but we cannot change my father's name now," said Shaji, Karthikeyan's son. One more such constituency facing a similar problem is Tripunithura in Ernakulam district where sitting MLA K. Babu of the UDF and LDF candidate K.N. Ravindran have namesakes. Babu has been asked by officials to modify his name to Babu Krishna and A.K. Ravindran and C.D. Ravindran have been asked to put their initials after their names.

   "The other candidate has a higher prospect of success. They try to derail the entire process or sabotage by putting same names. This is something the election has not got into yet. One option for a genuine candidate to come out of it is that if there's a dummy candidate put up by a rival party with the same name then he can apply for a name change like G.Karthikeyan, former food minister, as he's from Aryanad. There's another candidate who's also G.Karthikeyan and then there's another frivolous candidate with the same name. The Chief Electoral Officer told me that if there's the problem of same name then we grant name change," said Johnmary, a senior freelance journalist. In Aluva constituency too, UDF MLA K.Mohamad Ali is facing a threat from a certain A.A. Mohamad Ali who has been asked to attach his family name 'Suhasam'.

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