State election office suspects foul play; will videograph all voters
State election office suspects foul play; will videograph all voters
There is nothing new or surprising about jhuggis being gutted in Delhi's scorching summer.
But when just a week before the Capital votes in the Lok Sabha polls, about 1,000 jhuggis are burnt in four similar incidents and over 5,000 are left homeless and without voter identity cards, and the Election Commission too raises an eyebrow, we can't dismiss them all as accidents. Or mere coincidences.
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The Delhi Chief Electoral Office is suspecting foul play too and has directed the Delhi police to probe the incidents.
What make the fires even more suspicious is that they were reported only from South and Northwest parliamentary constituencies.
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Worried poll official
"I have directed the Delhi police to probe the fires. In the past few days many such incidents have occurred. It should be ascertained whether they were natural or were motivated by some one," said Satbir Silas Bedi, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Delhi.
The worried CEO has directed returning officers of these two parliamentary seats to make provisional arrangements so that voters of these jhuggis may vote without glitches on May 7.
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"We will ensure all voters get the chance to vote. Our officials are visiting the affected families in rehabilitation camps and are handing them provisional identity slips. On May 7, only voters who have the slips will be allowed to enter the polling booths. Just to be foolproof, the voter's identity will be matched again on the polling day at the booth," she said.
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Though the CEO did not confirm, a senior official from her department said that the returning officials have also been directed to videograph the process of polling at the booths where the affected families will vote.
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Dwellers suspicious
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Not only the poll office, the Tughalabad slum dwellers whose jhuggis were burnt on Monday, too suspect that it was not an accidental fire. According to the fire department, the blaze started around 3 am and it took around four hours to douse it.
Nandu, one of the affected residents, said, "We do not know how the fire started. If someone had left a stove or gas burning while cooking, then the fire would have started at night. Nobody will cook at 3 in the morning. Also, most jhuggiwallahs go to bed early. This fire is suspicious."
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The same doubts were echoed by other residents too. Pritam Pal, who works in a factory at neighbouring Kalkaji, said fire engines arrived after two hours of the first burst of flames. "We lost all our belongings including our voter identity cards. If the firemen had come earlier, we could have saved some things. Now, we will not be able to vote. A few politicians have visited us and have promised us help," said Pal.
Political coup
Meanwhile, netas swooped in to offer help to the people in grief. At around 1 pm, when the MiD DAY team visited the area, local MLA, the BJP's Vijender Bidhuri, brother of Ramesh Bidhuri who is contesting the Lok Sabha elections from the constituency, was offering solace.
"It is so hot these days, the fire could have started because of the heat. We visited the affected families and will speak to the sub-divisional magistrate for help. We must help them," Bidhuri said.
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Meanwhile, Karmaveer, a BJP supporter, who claimed to be the owner of the plot where the jhuggis were located, said that there was a similar fire in the area earlier too.
"We were not able to find the reason for that fire as well. But we must help these people," he said.
Jhuggis Gutted
May 4
300 at Tuglaqabad
April 29
60 at Kingsway Camp
April 29
500 in Bawana
April 27
100 at Shahabad Dairy
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