THE JHARKHAND STORY NETWORK
Daltonganj, May 9: The district administration will provide free transportation to voters in the contiguity of the Burha Pahar, under the Palamu Lok Sabha segment, to cast their votes on May 13.
The reason being that the voters there will have to travel 7 to 14 km to cast their votes
Burha Pahar though stands freed from the CPI Maoists, the administration is in no mood to give any loose moment to Naxals to show any of their aberrations.
For example, voters of Turer will cast their votes at Madgaree which means voters will have to travel 14 km for voting!
Again, voters of Saniya will be voting at a different polling station at Madgaree. Here Saniya voters will be travelling 13 km.
Voters of Kutku will have to travel 10 km to cast their votes at Madgaree’s another booth.
There is an upgraded high school at Madgaree which houses a couple of polling stations for voters living in the range of the Burha Pahar.
Harta voters are lucky as their polling station is at Bijka which is 7 km away from their dwelling location Harta.
However, the administration will provide free transportation to and fro for the voters to enable them to cast votes at the relocated polling stations which are definitely at a distance.
Additional Collector Kundan Kumar, who is the nodal officer of the Karmik Koshang, said local vehicles have been arranged for free transportation for this exercise.
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Relocation of booths for safety
Kundan Kumar said, “The relocation of the polling stations is not done in any arbitrary fashion rather a great many deliberations was done keeping at the core safety and security of all the voters, the polling parties and accompanying security forces.”
Kundan Kumar said, “A consensus was developed for the relocation. Suggestions and opinions were taken from the contestants and political parties reminding them as to why relocation is inevitable and why they should also support the relocation.”
“The exercise of relocation was done in consultation with not only the contestants and representatives of the political parties but with the police officers of the respective locations and above all with the general observer of the ECI,” Kundan Kumar said.
A proposal for relocation of the polling stations was sent to the chief electoral officer by the returning officer Shashi Ranjan to obtain consent from the ECI.
The ECI gave its consent to relocate ten polling stations, 4 of them in the foothills of the Burha Pahar for the voting of the Palamu Lok Sabha seat.
9 booths relocated in Panki assembly constituency
ECI’s consent to relocate 9 booths in Panki assembly constituency has also come for the Chatra Lok Sabha seat voting for which is due on May 20.
Among the 9 relocations to the Panki assembly constituency, polling stations of Gogaar and Kekargarh figure high as their relocation is inevitable for the security reasons.
4 relocations at Burha Pahar foothills
Apart from these 4 relocations to the polling stations in the foothills to the Burha Pahar, there has been 6 more relocations, 3 each in the Chhaterpur and Hussainabad assembly constituencies of Palamu Lok Sabha seat, reminded Kundan Kumar.
The polling stations which are relocated are Dundur, Ratnaag, Mada Daag, Mahur, Pratappur and Lohbandha.
