Bihar polls: Burqa-clad women welcome EC initiative to confirm ID of voters, say "vote chori can be stopped"

By Tarak Sarkar
Darbhanga (Bihar) [India], November 6 (ANI): Burqa-clad women voters in Bihar's Darbhanga have expressed satisfaction with the Election Commission of India's (ECI) rule to confirm the identity of voters having their faces covered, saying that this rule will prevent voter fraud and disallow people from voting in someone else's name.
Amid the ongoing phase 1 elections of the Bihar assembly, multiple women at Darbhanga's 140, 141, 142 number polling booths at Madhya Vidhyalaya, Zirat cast their vote earlier today. After exercising their rights, multiple women said that the ID confirmation is a welcome step by the ECI.
Rehana Khatun, one the voters told ANI that this rule will help curb "vote chori" (vote theft). Recalling the process. She recalled the process of her face being checked by women officials, and said that she is happy after casting her vote.
"Before going kept my mobile phone outside, then my face was seen, then my number was matched, only after that did I give vote. Everything went well. I am happy with the initiative," she said.
"yes, I think it (vote theft) can be curbed. Vote theft should not happen, people give it regularly but it gets stolen, lets see what happens now," she added.
According to her, it was a possibility that people wanted to take "undue advantage" of the burqa, with plans to impersonate voters.
"Some people wanted to take undue advantage of burqa that is why this rule has been implemented. Now only after seeing the face will the vote be cast," she added.
Regarding the rule of confirming the identity of women with covered faces, ECI had said that Anganwadi workers will be deployed across various polling stations to help with the ID verification.
Taranub Ansari, EC official working at the desk of the polling booth number 140 told ANI that she supports the ID confirmation, as it ensures that the voting rights of the people are not infringed upon.
She pointed out that only women are checking the face covering of voters.
"At the 140 booth number, identity of women is being checked by having them pick up their covering and confirm their faces so that no one casts a cote under someone else's name. This is correct, the person to whom the vote belongs to should vote. This checking is not wrong," she said.
When asked about whether this initiative cured vote theft, she added, "Burqa is being checked so now vote theft is being stopped. That is why the rule was brought in. I believe this is correct, noting is wrong in this. In a society there are laws and rights, and people should confirm their identity. Now if someone is suffering due to that, then it is wrong. But only women check the ID, no men do it."
Shahina Parveen, another official at the booth also supported the initiative.
The Darbhanga seat is set to see a triangular contest between incumbent MLA and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Sanjay Saraogi, Vikasheel Insaan Party's (VIP) Umesh Sahani, and Jan Suraaj's Rakesh Kumar Mishra. The constituency went to polls on November 6 at 7 AM.
As of 1 PM, Bihar recorded a brisk voter turnout of 42.31 per cent, as per ECI.
Among the 18 districts, Gopalganj recorded the highest turnout of 46.73 per cent, followed by Lakhisarai with 46.37 per cent and Begusarai with 46.02 per cent, till 1 pm.
According to the Election Commission, there are 10.72 lakh 'new electors' and 7.78 lakh voters are in the age group of 18-19 years. The total population of these constituencies, as stated by the Election Commission, is 6.60 crore.
There are total of 122 women candidates in the fray in the first phase of polls.
In the 2020 Bihar Assembly elections, polling took place in three phases. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) secured 125 seats, while the opposition Mahagathbandhan (MGB) won 110. Among the major parties, the Janata Dal (United) bagged 43 seats and the Congress 19. The JD(U) had contested 115 constituencies and the BJP 110, whereas the RJD contested 144 seats and the Congress 70. (ANI)