Election Commission (EC) Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed on Monday said that the commission sees no reason to be concerned regarding law and order ahead of the national election scheduled for February 2026.
"I don't think there is any logical reason right now to be concerned about this," he said while replying to a question from reporters at Nirbachan Bhaban in the capital.
The EC secretary said the EC will think of the law-and-order issue later and it is working to expedite election preparations now. "At this moment, we have no reason to express the overall concern," he said.
On the election roadmap, he said the draft has already been prepared and may be unveiled within this week.
"I had mentioned earlier that we would announce an action plan (what he called a roadmap last week) this week. Yes, coordination is underway. A draft has been prepared with the relevant components. Once the Commission approves it, I believe we will be able to share it with you this week," he said.
Turning to polling station guidelines, the EC secretary said the commission has discussed the matter and plans not to increase the number of polling stations in the next general election.
For the national election, one polling station is designated for 3,000 voters.
The EC thinks the increased voters can be accommodated by setting a polling booth for 600 instead of 500 voters without enhancing the number of the polling stations.
In the 12th parliamentary election held in 2024, there were 42,148 polling stations for 11.97 crore voters across the country.
The number of voters is expected to rise to 12.78 crore this time in the upcoming 13th general election.
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