EC team concludes Assam visit, reviews poll preparedness

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaMarch 6, 2024

The team of officials from the Election Commission of India (ECI) which arrived here on Tuesday on a two-day visit to the state, concluded its visit on Wednesday.

On day 2 of its visit, the poll panel held a review meeting with all district election officers (DEOs), commissioner of police, Guwahati City, superintendents of police (SPs), DIGs and other senior officials to assess the poll preparedness in the state ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls at a city hotel here on Wednesday. 

The team led by Deputy Election Commissioner Hirdesh Kumar along with Senior Principal Secretary, NN Butolia, Director Pankaj Srivastava and Secretary NT Bhutia interacted with all the officers who apprised them of the status of poll preparedness in their respective districts. 

Issues related to the status of distribution of EPICs, provisions made in polling stations, availability of EVM/ VVPATs and manpower, SVEEP activities being carried out to increase voter turnout, training of manpower, deployment of security forces, election expenditure, were discussed during the meeting. 

The Deputy Election Commissioner directed all the officials to ensure that the elections in the state are conducted in a free and fair manner with high voter turnout. 

The EC team met with chief secretary Paban Kumar Barthakur along with senior secretaries of various government departments on Tuesday evening. 

The team also held a meeting with Assam chief electoral officer (CEO) Anurag Goel, IAS and IGP (L&O) & state police nodal officer, Assam, PK Bhuyan and reviewed the poll preparedness at their end on Tuesday. Also present in the meeting were 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. 

On the first day of their visit, the team also met with representatives of various central enforcement agencies and reviewed the poll preparedness to ensure free, fair and peaceful elections in the state.