Indian Elections 2014: Largest Event Management Exercise in the World

Priyanka Swami, theindianrepublic, 6 April 2014: The crucial NINE days: 81.4 crore voters, 9 lakh 30 thousand polling booths, 17,20,080 Control Units, 18,78,306 Ballot Units, 1.1 crore polling and security officers, 543 constituencies, and the indelible ink! Watch that with Awe!

Surpassing the mark created by 2009 general elections, this time it is way bigger. With a 100 million increase in the voter base from 2009, we see 11,844 overseas electors, 28,314 transgenders, and 13.28 lakh service electors enrolling themselves for 2014 polls. Out of this huge electorate base, 23 million voters belong to 18 to 19 age group and 10 per cent of the voters will be exercising their voting rights for the first time.

Starting from April 7 and extending up to May 12, it is for the first time that India will have elections in nine phases. Spreading across 543 constituencies, the bulk 525 constituencies will vote on first six days and 18 will vote on the remaining three. Counting of votes and results will happen on May 16.

A chain of incidents had been reported in the 33 worst Naxal-affected areas identified by the Home Ministry in 2004 and 2009 general elections. And to avoid the chaos this time, the Home Ministry is fully prepared with a highly secured deployment plan.

With requisition of officers from CRPF, BSF, ITBP, SSB and Assam Rifles, we will have more than two lakh armed paramilitary personnel to ensure swift and peaceful voting bouts. Besides this, thousands of vehicles and dozens of helicopters will also be deployed for quick reinforcements to chip in and smooth movement of forces from one place to another.

MA Ganapathy, Joint Secretary, HM, said, “It is a massive exercise. But we will ensure peaceful polling.”

For transportation of forces, the Home Ministry has also planned to press in 100 trains keeping the election schedule and security in mind. As for the flying squad, Air Force choppers will do the needful.

Besides the security arrangements for smooth and sociable polling, a 12 per cent increase in the number of polling booths (from 8, 30,866 in 2009 to 9, 30,000 in 2014) also defines Election Commission’s efforts to reach one and all.

Last time, a team of officers trekked for 45 kilometers in the high mountains of Ladakh to reach 35 voters. This time the EC has ensured that you may reside anywhere on land or in snow, you will not have to travel more than two kilometers to vote. As for places like Gir forest, they do have a Plan B. Deputy EC R. Balakrishnan explains, “There’s this polling station located 20 miles deep into the Gir forest jungle. To secure this one vote, we will send a team of officials. Even one voter we try and reach out, and then for reaching out that one voter we do what it takes. And it involves sometimes using all modes of transport, from helicopters and elephants and camels and what not and sometimes involves days of trekking.”

Undeterred, our polling teams travel to the farthest and the remotest to get that one vote significant for the Indian polity. For areas like these, we have also seen bullock carts transporting the electronic voting machines to their desired destination.

Also, the EC prepares the schedule keeping in mind points like festivals, holidays, examinations, monsoon and harvest season, and the availability of the security forces.

Chief Election Commissioner VS Sampath said, “Keeping in view the interests of the students and also the fact that polling stations are mostly located in school buildings and teachers are engaged as polling personnel, the commission has consciously factored in the examination schedules of various state boards, including the Central Board of Secondary Education, in the process of finalising the poll dates.”

“It is the kind of largest event management exercise in the world. We have to ensure that the men and material are all in place dot on time at nearly one million polling stations,” said R Balakrishnan.

Besides the extent of it, the major challenge hovers around transparency and fairness of the polls. Though India has emerged successfully from the era of ballot looting but there are still certain constraints the EC has to address, like that one incident happened in 2012 where there were reports that the EVMs had been rigged. Later, it was found out that they were defective.

Balakrishnan explained, “We do an exercise to identify the vulnerable areas where the election process could be threatened. This is identifying people who are vulnerable to be intimidated by someone and also identifying people who are likely to intimidate and we respond with what is needed and what it takes.”

Well, it’s easy to mention the stats but difficult to execute them and the EC looks quite equipped and gripped to take on this herculean task. Besides a lot of muscle involved, it’s also ‘some’ money there. This time, reportedly, a whopping amount of Rs 3, 500 crore will be spent on this entire 72-day activity.

“Every state will send the expenditure statements to the Centre for reimbursement. The Union law ministry will peruse the statements and reimburse the states. The EC’s preliminary estimate for this Lok Sabha election is around Rs 3,500 crore. The final amount may be more or less,” an EC official said.

“The expenses have increased in the last five years. Six months before polling, EC starts campaigns across the country asking people to enroll. We release advertisements, visit places and stage street plays. After the rolls are finalized, they are digitized,” he added.

Well, it’s much more than a ‘herculean’ task! Elections in India are a world affair being the largest and the biggest. The numbers are daunting and intense and this exercise is only to ensure that ‘we’, the voters, can ‘make our determination’ in the most sociable and dignified manner. It becomes our responsibility to step out and VOTE. It is the least we can do.