The collector of Maharashtra's Dharashiv district has expressed concerns that the Maratha community might field “too many” candidates, beyond the capacity of electronic voting machines, and sought the advice of the Election Commission on handling such a situation.
Dharashiv, earlier Osmanabad, is among the eight districts that comprise the state's Marathwada region, where activist Manoj Jarange has led an agitation demanding reservation for Marathas in education and government jobs.
The region has eight Lok Sabha seats.
In a letter dated March 6, Dharashiv collector Sachin Ombase has said that the possibility of the “disgruntled” Maratha community fielding "too many" candidates, beyond the capacity of EVMs (electronic voting machines), cannot be ruled out and issues that might crop up if polls are held using ballot papers.
The challenge of inadequate manpower and ballot boxes might arise, said the IAS officer in his letter.
He said that the ballot papers would need to be made bigger if there were a large number of candidates.
“As a result, more ballot boxes may be required,” the collector wrote.
Not just more manpower, additional vehicles will also be needed to transport the ballot boxes from polling centres to the strong room, Ombase wrote, also raising concerns over the space needed for their safekeeping.
In October last year, election authorities had encountered the challenge of too many candidates after 155 people filed their candidature, at the behest of the protesting Maratha community, for a gram panchayat bypoll at Chate Pimpalgaon village of Parbhani district.
As a result, the by-poll was suspended by the State Election Commission and a letter on the decision was sent to the Parbhani collector.
