Elections in Bihar pose multiple challenges to the authorities. Unlike several other states, Bihar has seen voting in multiple phases primarily because of the need to control violence during the entire process. But in the last decade the state has witnessed almost negligible violence because of improved law and order and better deployment of Central Armed Police Force (CAPF). The other major aspect of elections in Bihar has been the heavy turnout of women, who have been outvoting their men folk.
IBNLive caught up with R Lakshmanan, the Additional Chief Electoral Officer of Bihar, to find out the challenges faced and the process involved in carrying out the mammoth electoral exercise. The 2004 batch IAS officer credited strict security measures, voters’ awareness and women empowerment for reduction in violence and the heavy turnout of women voters.
Below is the transcript of the interview:
Question: How are elections in Bihar different from other states? What are the main challenges that you face?
Answer: In Bihar elections, the key challenges are LWE (Left Wing Extremists commonly known as Naxals or Maoists) problem which is common along the Jharkhand bordering districts and also certain districts of north Bihar. Second is in terms of terrain and geography, especially the riverine areas of Ganga, Son, Kosi and Gandak. They pose special challenge in terms of logistics and law and order issues. These two are unique to Bihar and the large international border with Nepal also poses a challenge. In these ways, it is slightly different from other states. Other key challenges are ensuring basic law and order, ensuring muscle power is controlled and misuse of money power is kept under check.
Question: Till almost a decade back there used to be major violence during elections in the state. Law and order was a big issue. But in the last few elections it has been curbed a lot. Now, there is negligible violence. So what is the reason?
Answer: Since the 2005 elections, practically it has been more or less violence free, barring a few minor incidents here and there. Things like booth capturing have not happened since 2005. Election Commission has evolved various strategies and has been improving upon steps which were taken previously. Prominently, the preventive action from law and order point of view starts, maybe, three months before the election actually takes places. So there are various legal provisions which are available under the CrPC, Crime Control Act and otherwise. The expenditure monitoring which actually limits or checks the money power also reflects on the law and order and violence situation. There are various agencies which are involved like police, Border Security force, CISF, railways and income tax. They are taken into account, and based on that preventive action and vulnerability mapping is carried out.
Vulnerability mapping is again a step which the Election Commission has consciously picked up. Basically it is identifying tolas (settlements) where people are likely to be prevented from voting by the dabang/trouble makers. Those tolas are identified well in advance and probable trouble creators are identified and preventive action taken against them. Apart from that, the execution of pending NBWs, raids for illegal arms, area domination and confidence building exercise with the help of CAPF a couple of months before the elections is carried out. These measures put together have helped in creating a conducive environment for elections. In this election also, the first two phases have passed off peacefully. In terms of preventive actions that have happened in this election till now: close to 897 illegal arms have been seized, 3371 illegal cartridges have also been seized, on a major scale licensed arms have also been deposited from safety point of view. Close to around 40,000 licensed arms have been deposited which is pretty significant compared to the previous elections. People who had violated the licensed arms condition, close to 9000 licensed arms have been cancelled. Similarly, around 68000 non-bailable warrants have been executed. This NBW drive is also a significant factor which contributes to a peaceful election. Similarly, trouble makers have been identified, close to 2 lakh bound down under the preventive sections of CrPC. Close to Rs 8 crore has been collected during vehicle checking drives as fines. All these measures help in conducting a violence-free and peaceful election.
Question: Bihar elections are held in several phases and it means the administrative machinery is stretched for the entire duration. State administration comes to a halt. In several states it is a single phase election. Since violence is now negligible, are there plans to hold elections in a single phase or minimise the phases so that public in general is not inconvenienced?
Answer: In fact the primary factor in deciding the number of phases varies from state to state and also the amount of force required. In Bihar, if you compare the Lok Sabha and the previous Assembly election, in that election it was probably held in six phases and then broken down to seven phases. Lok Sabha election was held in six phases. So from there, we have progressed and come to a five phased election. Going forward maybe this would be reduced. Various political parties also met the EC and demanded central forces. With festival season also coming, the Commission decided that this time it would be five phases. Compared to the 2010 elections, the period of Model Code of Conduct has also been compressed. It is now just about 25 days between the first date of voting and results. As the situation improves we can move to smaller phases.
Question: There is festival season in between which means a break in campaigning. How is this a challenge? Is it just a law and order issue or is the EC also involved?
Answer: In case of any trouble during festivals, it is likely to have a spillover effect on elections too. So, Election Commission constantly interacts with the Home Department. But law and order is the primary responsibility of the state government and the Home Department. The possibility of communal tension is also there especially as Durga Puja and Moharram are falling one after the other with just a day in between. Extra efforts have been taken by the Home Department in consultation with the EC. It is important to ensure overall law and order is maintained so that it is conducive for free and fair elections. Secondly, a large number of migrant workers and students come home. That in a way would result in better voter participation. That is a positive aspect of festivals falling close to elections.
Question: How do you ensure that those who can be intimidated and stopped from voting are confident enough to come out and vote?
Answer: That is part of the vulnerability mapping. The sector officers do the initial survey and try to identify the vulnerable voters who could be prevented. After that, on a weekly basis, they actually visit those tolas, engage with the voters, try to have a dialogue with them and try to understand who the trouble maker is. Those trouble makers are taken care of by various preventive actions. That definitely gives confidence. Apart from that, we keep constant communication with them. We take their mobile numbers from the tolas. The CAPF are given to district for confidence building measures. One of the primary things they do it to visit them with the sector magistrate. On the day of polls also, there are teams which are specifically designated to visit these tolas. So that on the day of polls they ensure that nobody is actually preventing them and they are able to cast their votes without any hindrance. Post poll also an exercise is carried out to ensure that there is no violence between the communities. In this way their concerns are addressed and over the past few elections we have seen that their participation has increased.
Question: Women voters have come out in large numbers and their percentage is more than males in Bihar. What is the reason that women are outvoting men in Bihar?
Answer: It is a complex phenomenon which is not easy to explain. Primary reason seems to be voter awareness and behaviour survey that is regularly conducted. Many males who are residents here and have their names enrolled in the voters list in Bihar, they are registered here but they are out of Bihar either for work or studies. So physical presence of male voters on the day of elections has been both a concern and an issue. That is one of the reasons in terms of turnout as females are residing here and they come out and vote. Percentage wise their participation is better. Second, over the last few years women empowerment has happened. So women feel safe, they feel confident. The law and order situation has also improved.
Question: Foul language has been used by several leaders during elections. The EC issues a notice and then they reply. But no strict action has been taken like debarring them from campaigning or stopping them from campaigning. Isn’t it time that a strong message is sent out?
Answer: In fact, pretty strict action has been taken in case of each and every violation. In terms of star campaigners, more than seven FIRs have been registered across all parties. There have been 62 FIRs for illegal speeches or illegal meetings. FIR is the maximum possible action against any person for the offence. That has been registered under the IPC and Representation of Peoples Act. Apart from that, notices have been issued to four star campaigners. After receiving their replies, they have cautioned the star campaigners to be careful in their future campaign. EC also issued an advisory to all political parties to maintain the standard during campaigning and to refrain from using such language and follow the overall framework of law and order. After initial FIRs, show causes and notices, in the last 10-12 days, we have noticed that such kind of language has not happened.
Question: Recently, a leader in West Bengal made a statement that EC is in the pocket of his party. This puts a question mark on the neutrality of the elections being constructed. How do you ensure that a message is sent out that EC is neutral?
Answer: Immediately after that statement, the EC spokesperson clarified that it is not under anyone’s influence and condemned the statement. The EC has reiterated to all its functionaries and officers that they have to function in a neutral and unbiased manner. Wherever there has been any proof that somebody is not neutral or has worked in favour of somebody, action has been taken against them.
Question: All booths are manned by Central forces. Why is Bihar Police not put into action? Is there a probability that they can influence the voters?
Answer: In terms of the primary security responsibility of the polling station, the CAPF has been deployed. But apart from CAPF, Bihar Police has also been deployed. It is not that they have been kept out. They are used for patrolling duties and with sector magistrate. All other duties are done by the state police but CAPF is primarily responsible for polling stations. It is also about the political perspective. In polling stations too, Bihar Police is used to supplement the CAPF. The primary concern is that they should function in a neutral manner. To instill confidence in the political parties and voters at large, this measure has been taken.
Question: How successful has the voter awareness campaign been and who are the star campaigners?
Answer: There are national icons who have associated themselves with the Election Commission. There is MS Dhoni, Aamir Khan, Saina Nehwal and a few others. Apart from that, there are state icons at the state level like Santosh Yadav, Sashi Suman and Sharda Sinha. There are quite a few districts who have picked up their own district level icons. Voter awareness is being carried out by various sectors, various departments, corporates and civil society too have pitched in. We also take a lot of measures for voter facilitation. At each and every polling station, we ensure that there are certain basic facilities. Proper furniture to sit if people have to wait for a long time to vote, proper lighting, ramps for physically challenged people, there are Braille based ballot papers for visually challenged persons. Voter slips are distributed telling each voter where their booth is, the date of poll and time of poll. Apart from that, net-based search facilities are also there. You can send an SMS and get your voter details.
Question: In the Lok Sabha elections we saw you coming out to vote early which sent a very positive message. Will we see it again this time?
Answer: We make sure that all officials, DM, security personnel, polling staff get to vote. Earlier, there used to be just 10-15% voting by the polling staff but now it is nearly 70-80% because of several steps that have been taken.
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