Though the civic body has made elaborate arrangements to get COVID-19 patients to vote in the bypolls in Bengaluru, the response from patients has been poor. The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has made transport arrangements in ambulances to get voters infected with COVID-19 to their respective polling booths and back home. They will also be giving them PPE kits.
The last hour of polling, from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., has been slotted for COVID-19 patients to vote. “We have called all the infected voters two or three times, but the response has been cold. Any infected person who wishes to vote will be provided with all the facilities, including transport and PPE kits. And necessary sanitisation will be done,” said BBMP Commissioner N. Manjunath Prasad.
The BBMP has contacted at least 1,500 people who have currently been infected with COVID-19 in R.R. Nagar. “Out of the 1,500 we called, only 27 confirmed that they will come to vote. Out of that number, 12 are in hospitals and the rest under home isolation. If people with COVID-19 still want to come and vote, they can reach out to us even on Tuesday and we will make the necessary arrangements,” he said.
Mr. Prasad also said that the non-infected persons who reach polling station before 6 p.m. will also be given a chance to vote after 6 p.m., after the COVID-19 patients finish voting and sanitisation is carried out.
Additional staff of 20% will be deployed on poll duty on Tuesday to handle any case of emergency. Voters will be given gloves to wear on their right hand for voting. “As many as 678 teams have been set up for the 678 polling stations. We have also deployed over 670 personnel from the Health Department for thermal screening, distribution of gloves for voters, and for hand sanitisation,” he said.
