All 5 polling stations in Shaheen Bagh put under critical category: Delhi CEO

NEW DELHI: In view of the ongoing anti-caa protests in Shaheen Bagh, the Delhi poll body has put all five polling stations in the area under the “critical” category, its top official said on Wednesday, while asserting that confidencebuilding measures are being undertaken to reassure voters.

Addressing a press conference here, Delhi Chief Electoral Officer Ranbir Singh, said the area is under “tight vigil” and “their is no obstruction” in areas where poll activities will be conducted, and so voters would face no problems.

Singh accompanied by the district election officer and nodal police officers had visited Shaheen Bagh area on Friday to assess the situation and preparedness ahead of the assembly elections on February 8.

“In view of the ongoing protests in Shaheen Bagh, we have declared all five polling stations in the area as critical polling stations. There are about 40 booths encompassing those five stations. All these booths are therefore under critical category,” Singh told reporters on Wednesday.

Besides police security, polling stations falling in the “critical category” get paramilitary cover. Activities will be monitored through webcasting, he said.

He said police forces and the election machinery are on “extra vigil” and assessing the situation all the time across the national capital.

Shaheen Bagh falls in the Okhla Assembly constituency. The area has become the epicentre of anti-caa protests in the national capital and the agitation has been thrusted by political parties into a poll issue.