GUNTUR
Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar directed the election observers to be deployed in all the States and Union Territories to ensure a level playing field and to randomly deploy forces, personnel, and machines.
Mr. Rajiv Kumar instructed them to ensure the elections are free of inducement, coercion, and intimidation at the day-long hybrid session (both online and offline) conducted by the Election Commission of India (ECI) from Delhi on Monday (March 11) to brief the observers (general, police, and expenditure) for the forthcoming General Elections to the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies.
In this meeting, over 2,150 senior officers, including IAS, IPS, Indian Revenue Service, and other Central Services from across the country attended, informed Mukesh Kumar Meena, Andhra Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), who attended the online session from the Secretariat at Velagapudi in Guntur.
A total of 66 officers from Andhra Pradesh also participated in the meeting.
The ECI has deployed around 900 general observers, 450 police observers and 800 expenditure observers for the forthcoming elections in India.
Mr. Rajiv Kumar mentioned that the Commission has re-drafted all circulars and updated the manuals, which are available on the ECI website. He added that the manuals and handbooks have been prepared based on the roles and functions of different officials, along with a checklist of dos and don’ts.
The observers were directed to stay within the boundaries of the Parliamentary constituency they were allotted to during the entire electoral process. GPS tracking has been proposed for their vehicle.
They were directed to widely publicise their mobile, email and places of stay on the CEO and district administration websites and through media.
They were told to remain available on their phones and emails and respond to the calls of candidates, political parties, the public, and personnel on election duties. The Commission will consider any complaints in this regard seriously.
The observers were informed that they should visit as many polling station locations and vulnerable areas as possible, interact with people living in these areas, identify vulnerabilities and criticalities of such areas, and ensure measures are taken to address them.
The observers were told to visit as many polling stations as possible during polling hours on the day of the poll, regularly assess the situation inside polling stations, and ensure polling is going on in a free and fair manner.
They were told to see that Central and State police forces are being judiciously utilised and maintaining neutrality, and their deployment does not favour any political parties or candidates.
