CEC Sunil Arora says observers are eyes, ears of poll panel
Chief Electoral Officer K Vijayanand (left) taking part in a videoconference held by Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora from New Delhi
on Monday.
Amaravati: Election observers are eyes and ears of the Election Commission (EC) and they play a key role in conducting free, fair and peaceful elections in a transparent manner, said chief election commissioner Sunil Arora.
Addressing the election observers on virtual conference, who would be leaving to Bihar and other states where by-elections will be conducted soon, Chief election commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora said that there is vast difference between the elections in the past and the present, keeping in view the Covid-19 backdrop. The election observers should take special care for the protection of the voters.
The CEC instructed the observers to watch out for the individuals or elements, who attempt to influence the voters with money and liquor on large scale. In order to prevent such incidents, they should concentrate on implementing the election code strictly. Awareness should be brought among voters regarding the c-Whistle and 1950 call centre.
Election commissioner Rajiv Kumar said that the EC allowed the senior citizens above 80 and the physically handicapped to exercise postal ballot. The election observers should be more careful in discharging duties as everyone will be watching them.
Election commissioner Susheel Chandra said that the observers should focus on safe election in view of the Covid-19 pandemic. They should strive to improve the polling percentage by bringing awareness among the voters.
Earlier, Umesh Sinha, secretary general of the EC, elaborated on the procedure to be adopted by the election observers to conduct elections peacefully. Deputy election commissioners Dharmendra Sharma and Sudeep Jain gave a presentation on sweep activity and electronic voting machine maintenance while deputy commissioner Chandrabhushan Kumar on election code of conduct and other legal provisions. Ashish Kundra on IT initiatives and Sarath Chandra on social media presented their ideas.State chief electoral officer (CEO) K Vijayanand, principal secretaries RP Sisodia and Ramgopal, who are deployed for the Bihar elections, chief commissioner of taxes Piyush Kumar and other officials were present.