Guwahati: A high-level team of the Election Commission of India (ECI) will visit Assam to review preparations for the upcoming Assembly elections. The nearly ten-member team will arrive in the state on February 8 and 9 and will hold review meetings with senior state officials.
During the visit, the ECI team will hold discussions with the State Chief Electoral Officer, Assistant Electoral Officers and other senior officials to assess the readiness for the forthcoming Assembly elections. The focus of the meetings will be on overall election preparedness, including administrative arrangements and coordination among departments.
The Election Commission team, along with the Director General of the IT Department, will also meet district-level officials in Guwahati, including Deputy Commissioners, Superintendents of Police, Senior Superintendents of Police and Deputy Inspectors General. The team will review ground-level election preparations and law-and-order arrangements. Separate meetings will also be held with officials from the Excise Department and the Income Tax Department. These discussions are aimed at ensuring that elections in the state are conducted smoothly, peacefully and fairly.
Meanwhile, the Chief Election Commissioner of India, Gyanesh Kumar, along with Election Commissioners Dr. Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Dr. Vivek Joshi, is likely to visit Assam between February 16 and 17.
In a related development, the Election Commission of India on Thursday organised a briefing meeting in New Delhi for Central Observers to be deployed for the Assembly elections in Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. The two-day meeting, held on February 5 and 6, was attended by 1,444 officers, including 714 General Observers, 233 Police Observers and 497 Expenditure Observers.
Addressing the observers, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said they have been selected as the “guiding force” of the Election Commission. He stressed that the observers must ensure free, fair and transparent elections, adding that their presence would strengthen the entire election process across 824 Assembly constituencies.
Election Commissioner Dr. S.S. Sandhu said that observers should act as friends, philosophers and guides to election officials working in the field. Election Commissioner Dr. Vivek Joshi emphasized that all instructions of the Election Commission must be implemented strictly, while maintaining neutrality and democratic values.
Observers were also advised to visit polling stations and ensure proper implementation of voter-friendly initiatives introduced by the Commission, especially the availability of assured minimum facilities. The Election Commission appoints Central Observers to assist in conducting free and fair elections and to oversee the effective management of the electoral process at the field level.
