Kolkata, Dec 3 (IANS) Trinamool Congress will start mobilising public opinion from Wednesday against the proposal from the Election Commission of India (ECI) to set up new polling booths within private housing complexes having multiple high-rise towers.

West Bengal Municipal Affairs and Urban Development Minister and Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) Mayor Firhad Hakim will hold a meeting with the officer bearers of various housing complex associations in and around Kolkata in the second half of Wednesday.

Sources in the Trinamool Congress said that first Hakim will listen to the opinions expressed by the office bearers on the ECI’s proposal for setting up new polling booths within private housing complexes, which have multiple high-rise towers.

Thereafter, the Mayor will update those office bearers about the inconveniences that residents of such housing complexes might face.

Party sources said that the Mayor is expected to highlight the temporary arrangements in advance for Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) personnel and polling officers within the housing complex, which might be inconvenient for the residents there.

Already, two divergent opinions have surfaced about the pros and cons of setting up polling booths within housing complexes. One group is in agreement that setting up polling booths might cause inconvenience for the residents there.

However, there is a second opinion that setting up polling booths within housing complexes will make it convenient for elderly and ailing residents within the complex to cast their votes at the booths within the same complex instead of travelling a distance to reach the nearby polling booth at any school.

The initiative on the part of Trinamool Congress to mobilise public opinion has been taken amid ECI’s decision to carry forward its proposal for setting up polling booths within private housing complexes, ignoring Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s objections.

Incidentally, last month, Chief Minister Banerjee wrote a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar, objecting to the ECI’s proposal for setting up polling stations inside private housing complexes for the Assembly polls scheduled next year.

“This proposal is deeply problematic. Polling stations have always been, and must remain, located in government or semi-government institutions, preferably within a 2 km radius, to ensure accessibility and neutrality. Private buildings are typically avoided for clear reasons: they compromise fairness, violate established norms, and create discriminatory distinctions between privileged residents and the general public — the haves and have-nots,” the Chief Minister’s letter read.

BJP Information Technology Cell Chief and the party’s central observer for West Bengal, Amit Malviya, refuted the Chief Minister’s objections and pointed out that any premises can be designated a polling station as long as they ensure ease of voting for all voters.

“Similar booths have been set up in high-rise buildings in Delhi and elsewhere. So why is it suddenly troubling you that the ECI is creating additional booths to make voting more convenient? No booths are being taken away from existing voters. So do explain: What exactly is upsetting you – the increase in voting access, or the collapse of the narrative you’re trying to build?” Malviya had questioned.

–IANS

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