Election Commissioners To Visit Patna To Review Poll Preparedness

Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Vivek Joshi and S S Sandhu will visit Patna for two days beginning Saturday to review poll preparedness in Bihar, officials said.

The term of the 243-member Bihar assembly ends on November 22 and polls in the state are likely to be held in multiple phases beginning at the end of this month and in November.

It is a common practice for the poll authority to visit states before announcing the election schedule.

The CEC and election commissioners will be in the state on October 4 and 5, the officials said.

The EC meets representatives of political parties and top police, administrative and state poll officials while reviewing election readiness.

At a briefing of general, police and expenditure observers appointed by the Election Commission (EC) for the Bihar polls, the officials were asked to familiarise themselves with all the election laws, rules, and guidelines, provide direct field inputs and ensure their strict and impartial compliance.

The central observers are the eyes and ears of the poll authority and help it ensure a level playing field for all candidates.

Observers were instructed to remain fully accessible to political parties, candidates, and voters for the redressal of their grievances.

The observers were also instructed to visit polling stations, and ensure the implementation of the recent initiatives taken by the Commission for the convenience of the voters.

According to an EC statement, at the briefing, CEC Kumar described observers as the "beacon of democracy".

As many as 425 general, police and expenditure observers are being deployed for Bihar as well as seven assembly bypolls.

The special intensive revision of voters' list in Bihar has concluded and the final electoral roll, published on September 30, has nearly 7.42 crore electors.

The revision, conducted after a gap of over two decades, has come under sharp criticism from opposition parties who have claimed that it will disenfranchise crores of genuine citizens.

The EC has asserted that it will not allow any eligible citizen to be left out of the voters' list and at the same time, no ineligible person will be on the list.

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