Poll booths must at high-rises with over 500 voters, hints EC
Times of India | 12 December 2025
Kolkata: The Election Commission on Thursday indicated that polling booths would be set up in all housing complexes in Kolkata, which had more than 500 voters, with or without the consent of the occupants.
District Election Officers (DEO)s were asked to begin a survey of high-rises in their areas and submit lists to the EC by year-end, allowing the commission to act directly if required.
An EC official said the commission had constitutional powers to requisition private properties, similar to how private vehicles were occasionally taken for official use during elections. A senior EC official added that the EC would not hold further discussions with any political party on the issue.
In a letter to Bengal CEO Manoj Agarwal on Wednesday, the EC directed DEOs to immediately conduct surveys of housing complexes with over 500 voters, including details of available ground-floor rooms. DEOs are expected to identify suitable spaces for polling stations and forward their assessments to the EC by Dec 31. The EC's letter emphasised the need for an "extensive survey" to randomise new polling stations.
Earlier attempts by the EC to secure consent from housing societies in Kolkata were met with resistance, with some withdrawing consent even after initially agreeing to it.
Bengal currently has over 80,000 booths. Initially, 14,000 additional booths were planned to accommodate new voters, maintaining the commission's guideline of a maximum of 1,200 voters per booth. But with the voter base expected to approach 7 crore, the number of new booths is now projected at 9,000.
Jayesh Kumar Jha of Sunrise Tower in Beleghata, one of the first complexes in the city to agree to the setting up of a polling booth on the premises last month, said, "We have always followed all mandatory instructions from authorities—whether the state or the EC. If booths are now mandatory in all large complexes, we will abide by that. All we want is a uniform rule for everyone, not decisions left to residents' discretion."
Several complexes, including Oriental Palms and Lake District, refused consent, while many remained silent.
Silver Spring Housing Complex on EM Bypass initially consented to the EC proposal of setting up polling booths in the complex but reconsidered after attending a meeting chaired by mayor Firhad Hakim, where chief minister Mamata Banerjee highlighted residents' concerns. Ashok Baid, a senior RWA member of Silver Spring, said, "Whatever rules are made mandatory will be followed by all. If the EC makes poll booths compulsory in all private complexes, we will comply."