Dimapur: The Election Commission of India will visit Nagaland from January 13 to 15 to review preparedness for the upcoming assembly elections in the state.

During its visit, the ECI team will meet all the recognised political parties and interact with senior officers of the state government, including the chief secretary, DGP, DCs, SPs and law enforcement agencies of both the state and central government.

Nagaland chief electoral officer (CEO) V Shashank Shekhar said this at a meeting with the representatives of various political parties in his office in Kohima.

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The CEO said the state-level training of polling personnel and preparations for the polls have been going on for the last couple of months. He added that the commission has deployed 50 CAPF companies in the state in advance and that some more companies of the central forces will arrive shortly.

He hoped that the citizens will provide all the required information to the various government agencies to ensure that a free and fair poll is conducted. He said the elections must be conducted like in a festive atmosphere and appealed to everyone for a free and fair election with no violence and no occurrence of re-poll. 

The CEO, along with officers of his office, also held a meeting of the State Steering Committee on Accessible Election to deliberate issues of accessible elections.

At the meeting, issues like PwD mapping and enrolment of voters, free transportation, polling station infrastructures like the location of the polling station on the ground floor, providing ramps/wheelchairs/volunteers for PwDs and senior citizens on the polling day, preparation of pictorial representation through posters and videos and sign language interpreters, the appointment of accessible observers, IT infrastructure and accessible communication, training and sensitisation of polling personnel for facilitation of PwDs and senior citizens, coordination and partnership with civil society organisations and NGOs, home voting facilities and helpline facilities for PwDs and senior citizens were discussed.

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Meanwhile, the Nagaland Legislative Assembly Secretariat on Tuesday notified that with the demise of Dr Imtiwapang Aier on January 7, who was elected to the 13th Nagaland assembly from 23-Impur assembly constituency, the seat has become vacant with effect from January 8, 2023.

Bhadra Gogoi is Northeast Now Correspondent in Nagaland. He can be reached at: [email protected]