After initial ‘yes’, N Kol condo withdraws poll booth approval
Times of India | 26 November 2025
Kolkata: Residents of only one out of nine condos, who agreed to be a polling booth in north Kolkata, withdrew their approval after learning that no other complex has yet reverted to the EC proposal for setting up a new polling station inside the complex.
Sunrise Towers was one of nine residential complexes with more than 300 voters that the EC approached for setting up a polling booth. While Oriental Palms, Lake District, and another Beleghata complex rejected the proposal outright, RWAs at Manikaran, Sunrise Heights, Ideal Heights, Shrachi Lakewoods, and Jiva Homes have not yet responded.
The EC approached the nine housing complexes in the N Kolkata LS constituency on Nov 19 and asked them for written consent by Nov 23. "We thought we had to abide by the timeline and were quick to send consent only to realise later that it was optional," an office-bearer at the Sunrise Tower residents' body said.
On the EC's proposal to set up polling booths in private housing societies, CM Mamata Banerjee wrote to CEC Gyanesh Kumar stating the proposal was "deeply problematic."
Senior residents at Ideal Heights and Sunrise Heights said they were still considering it and were in the process of holding meetings with residents before agreeing to it. "A GB meeting will be held in two days, following which a decision will be taken," said an office-bearer at Ideal Heights.
The move is part of an experiment first launched in Delhi to boost urban voter turnout.
A senior EC official said that they were trying to rope in the housing societies as North Kolkata had the least turnout in 2024 LS polls.
BJP has welcomed the initiative, arguing that high-rise residents — who it claims are often its supporters — face intimidation outside polling stations.
"Many residents here are senior citizens. Having a booth will help them exercise their franchise. But it must also be ensured that political representatives entering the complex don't create tensions," a Sunrise Heights resident said.