Kolkata, April 18 (IANS) Expert videographers on Saturday were specially appointed by the Election Commission of India (ECI) to video-record the poll proceedings from the beginning to the end at the polling booths coming under ‘shadow zones’ for the crucial two-phase Assembly polls in West Bengal scheduled later this month.

As per the ECI’s definition, the “shadow zones” have been identified due to poor mobile network and Internet connectivity, which at times makes it extremely difficult for the Commission to ensure effective online surveillance of the polling process there.

Insiders from the Commission said that the ECI-appointed professional videographers will be escorted by central armed police force (CAPF) personnel so that the videography process cannot be disrupted by anti-social elements backed by influential vested interests.

The Commission had also decided to make arrangements so that the videography contents recorded by the videographers can be periodically sent online from any nearby “non-shadow zone” to the district control-rooms at the offices of the district magistrates, also the district electoral officers, and the central control room at the office of the West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) in Kolkata.

On the basis of the scrutiny of the videography contents by the ECI-appointed observers, the Commission will decide whether there will be re-polling in any booth coming under the “shadow zones” or not.

An insider from the West Bengal CEO’s office said that, prima facie, a total of 625 “shadow zones” have been identified by the Commission.

“In the first phase of polling on April 23, these shadow zones are mainly in the remote hilly terrains in the two hill districts of Darjeeling and Kalimpong, and the tribal-dominated Jangalmahal areas scattered over Bankura, Purulia, West Midnapore, and Jhargram districts. In the first phase of polling on April 23, these shadow zones are mainly in the thickly forested zones in the Sunderbans areas in South 24 Parganas district,” the CEO’s office insider said.

He also added that ground-level reports accumulated by the Commission had suggested that in the last few elections, maximum instances of election malpractices like booth jamming, source jamming, and voter intimidation within the polling booths have been reported from the polling booths coming under these “shadow zones”.

On Friday, the Commission announced that the number of counting centres for the forthcoming two-phase elections in West Bengal later this month has been reduced to 87 from 90 in 2016 and 108 in 2021.

Of the 87 counting centres, the maximum will be in South 24 Parganas with 12, followed by 8 in North 24 Parganas and 6 in Hooghly. The least will be for Kalimpong, Alipurduar, and Jhargram with one each.

–IANS

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