EC gets complaints of 'defects' in electoral rolls in Maha

Nagpur, Sep 10 The Election Commission today acknowledged complaints of faulty electoral rolls and "paid news" in newspapers in Maharashtra, ahead of the assembly elections in the state.

"Yes, we have received complaints from political parties about the defects in the voters' list," Chief Election Commissioner Navin Chawala, flanked by Election Commissioners S Y Qureshi and V S Sampath, told a press conference here.

"We have directed concerned authorities to set it right and also complete distribution of voters identity cards by September 30," he added.

The ECI team was here to review the poll preparations of Vidarbha and Marathwada regions for Oct 13 state assembly elections.

He said a meeting of the booth level agents will be convened on September 16 and 17, to speed up the finalising of electoral rolls.

To another query, Chawala acknowledged complaints of publishing "paid news" in newspapers by political parties.

He said such complaints came from political parties.

About the poll preparations in naxal-hit areas, he said it would be similar to what was done during Lok Sabha polls.

Earlier, Chawala reviewed the preparations of Nagpur, Amravati and Aurangabad divisions.

Today's meeting with political parties was attended by representatives of BJP, BSP, Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP.