Difficult to define a freebie, our 'hands tied': CEC

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar, who will demit office on February 18, days after the results of the Delhi Assembly polls are declared on February 8, on Tuesday, flagged the need for finding "accepted and legal answers" on the issue of announcement of "freebies" by political parties during poll campaigns.

- ARCHIS MOHAN

At a press conference to announce the schedule for the polls, the last election he will supervise before demitting office, Kumar also batted for remote voting to ensure that India's 300 million "missing voters" exercise their right to vote. He supported the proposal for replacing booth-wise counting of votes with the "totaliser system" of counting of votes to prevent disclosures of voting patterns at a particular booth.

With the Union Budget slated to be presented on February 1, Kumar said the Election Commission would write to the Cabinet secretary, conveying to him that no Delhi-specific provision could be made in the Union Budget because that might disturb the level playing field.