New Delhi, March 18
The Election Commission of India on Wednesday deployed over 25 lakh officials to ensure violence-free and inducement-free elections in five States/UTs, following the announcement of the Assembly election schedule on March 15.
According to the Commission, elections will be held in Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, along with bye-elections in six States.
Over 17.4 crore electors are eligible to vote in these elections, with nearly one election official deployed for every 70 voters to ensure the smooth conduct of polling.
Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar stated that officials have been directed to act with complete impartiality to ensure that voters can exercise their franchise without fear or favour.
The deployed personnel include nearly 15 lakh polling personnel, 8.5 lakh security personnel, 40,000 counting personnel, 49,000 micro observers, 21,000 sector officers, and 15,000 micro-observers for counting, among other officials.
The Commission said that over 2.18 lakh Booth Level Officers (BLOs) are available to assist voters through phone and the "Book-a-call" facility on the ECINet App. Call centre number +91 (STD Code) 1950 is also available to register any complaint or query at the DEO/RO level.
As per Section 28A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, all deployed personnel will be deemed to be on deputation to the Commission.
Further, 1,111 central observers have been deployed across 832 Assembly constituencies, including 557 General Observers, 188 Police Observers and 366 Expenditure Observers. These observers will act as the "eyes and ears" of the Commission and will engage with candidates, political parties and the public to address election-related grievances.
Earlier on March 15, the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the schedule for Assembly elections in four states--West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Assam--along with the Union Territory of Puducherry.
According to the schedule, polling in West Bengal will be conducted in two phases on April 23 and April 29. Kerala and Assam will vote in a single phase on April 9, while Tamil Nadu will go to the polls on April 23. Voting in Puducherry will also take place on April 9. The counting of votes for all four states and Puducherry will be held on May 4, the ECI announced.
In addition to the Assembly polls, the Commission also announced by-elections for six seats across six states--Goa, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Nagaland, and Tripura--which will be conducted in two phases.
- ANI
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