GUWAHATI: A delegation from the Election Commission of India (ECI) arrived in Guwahati, Assam on Tuesday on a two-day visit to review the state’s readiness for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
During their stay, the ECI team is scheduled to convene a comprehensive review meeting involving discussions with officials, political parties, and various organisations to gather crucial insights and perspectives for the electoral process.
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The discussions with the officials will revolve around security arrangements, with the team engaging in detailed consultations with the state police to ensure a secure electoral environment.
The team, headed by Deputy Election Commissioner Hirdesh Kumar held the first meeting with chief electoral officer (CEO) Anurag Goel and state police nodal officer Prasanta Kumar Bhuyan to review the security arrangement for the upcoming polls.
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The second meeting is with different enforcement agencies, who will be issued guidance on how to function after the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) comes into force.
The last meeting of the day will take place between the ECI team and chief secretary Paban Kumar Borthakur, DGP Gyanendra Pratap Singh and other senior officials. They will review the entire poll preparedness in the meeting.
“The EC team also met IG Police (TAP) & IG (Communication) & State CAPF Nodal Officer, Assam, Akhilesh Kumar Singh and IGP (WR), Bongaigaon & Nodal Officer, Election Expenditure, Assam, Dilip Kumar Dey, representatives of various central enforcement agencies and seniormost secretaries of various government departments in a series of meetings held at Janata Bhawan in Dispur today,” an official statement of CEO Assam stated here.
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Meanwhile, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, on the sidelines of an official programme, told the media that the Assam government will request the ECI team to complete voting in the state before the Rongali Bihu festival.
“The state government has already urged the EC to conclude the elections in the state before the Bihu festival. During the Bihu celebrations in Assam, people get into a festive mood. The talks of BJP-Congress cannot match that atmosphere,” Sarma said.
“The chief secretary will again convey our request to the EC team. If there is no such difficulty, we will appreciate finishing the elections before the Bihu festival,” the chief minister added.
The state has 14 Lok Sabha MPs, of whom nine belong to the ruling BJP, while three are of the opposition Congress and one of the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), besides an Independent MP.
The Investigation Directorate of Income Tax Department, Northeast Region has deployed monitoring teams across the state to curb the use of black money in the poll process.
“Monitoring teams in the forms of 24×7 control room cum complaint monitoring cell have been deployed in the state capital, Rapid Action Team (RAT), District Monitoring Teams in each of the district and Air Intelligence Units (AIU) in all the airports of the state to curb the use of the black money in the election process,” an official spokesperson of I-T Department said here on Tuesday.
He said the monitoring teams are constituted to ensure free, fair and transparent elections to capture the movement of unaccounted cash and its role in the election process etc. as per the guidelines and mandates issued by the ECI from time to time.
“In this regard, any complaint or information about cash or other items suspected to be used for bribing of voters may be given to the Control Room through a toll-free number or WhatsApp. Also, any information or knowledge about storage, possession or movement of large amounts of cash or valuables may be passed on to the control room cum complaint monitoring cell constituted for the forthcoming Lok Sabha election for Assam,” he also said.
The complaint or information can be given on the toll-free number 1800 345 3596 or through WhatsApp at 9531460373.
On Wednesday, the team will have a day-long meeting with all district election officers (DEO) and superintendents of police (SPs) of the state.