SECUNDERABAD: It’s been a year since the Secunderabad Cantonment Board completed its five-year tenure. Yet, there is still no clarity on just when the elections to this body will be held next. This, even as neighbouring GHMC has already conducted its polls, as per schedule.
Not only has the ministry of defence (MoD) not issued an election notification so far for SCB, it has also not clarified how the polls will be conducted — on party lines or on free symbols. In fact, post the Assembly and Lok Sabha polls, there has been a growing demand among major parties to conduct the ensuing SCB polls on party lines.
This apart, there is another demand that continues to remain unfulfilled — of photo electoral rolls “It is the most important thing that MoD has to implement in the ensuing elections to avoid foul play,” said B Venugopal, a retired railway employee, who has participated in four Board elections so far.
“When the photo electoral rolls are being implemented by the Election Commission of India (ECI) for both Assembly and Lok Sabha elections then why is MoD not implementing the same for Cantonment Board elections in the country,” asked M N Prakash, an IT professional. He could not cast his vote in the last elections as somebody had utilised it.
To avoid this duplication of voters and ensure that Cantonment Board elections take place smoothly, MoD must issue the orders to the SCB, some voters in ward no-VI said. “Photo IDs are important to maintain transparency,” said a first-time voter.
When asked about the polls, SCB officials said that they are ready to conduct it as soon as they get a go-ahead. “We have completed the process of final electoral rolls and short-listed polling stations. We are absolutely ready to conduct Board polls,” said an official adding, “Implementation of photo electoral rolls in the ensuing elections is a decision that has to be taken by the MoD.”
The SCB has a voter base of 1.29 lakh. Further, in its new Cantonment Act, 2020 MoD has proposed that elections will be held for the post of vice-president too.
