Five Election Observers appointed by ECI review poll preparations in Darrang

OUR CORRESPONDENT

MANGALDAI: All the five Election Observers appointed by the Election Commission of India (ECI) to look after the conduct of polls in the four Legislative Assembly Constituencies of Mangaldai election district, on Tuesday held discussions with senior polling officials of the district at the conference hall of the Deputy Commissioner's office at Mangaldai.

Senior IAS officer Shekhar Manohar Channe - the General Observer for the 65-Kalaigaon and 66-Sipajhar LACs - spoke about the importance of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) in achieving the objective of a free and fair election. He also inquired about the steps being taken by the administration to implement the MCC in letter and spirit. He further asked the in-charge officials of the various cells such as the Media Certification & Monitoring Committee (MCMC), Model Code of Conduct (MCC), Transport Cell, Expenditure Monitoring Cell, among others, to stay vigilant towards any sort of poll-code violations by vested interests.

Another IAS officer, Amar Nath R Talwade - the General Observer for the 67-Mangaldai (SC) and 68-Dalgaon LACs - while speaking to the polling officials, said that the entire election process, including the MCC, was very technical in nature and all the officials needed to be very careful while carrying out their electoral duties. Talwade further asked the officials to show no laxity, especially after the last date of withdrawal of nomination papers on March 17.

Addressing the officials concerned, Harsh Vardhan Umre of Indian Revenue Service – Election Observer (Expenditure) for 66-Sipajhar and 67-Mangaldai (SC) LACs - re-iterated how money power had replaced muscle power as means to grab power, and why it was important to control this menace. Another Indian Revenue Service officer, Vinay Kumar Kantheti - Election Observer (Expenditure) for 65-Kalaigaon and 68-Dalgaon LACs - requested the cell in-charges to prepare for the big day (polling day) with all dedication.

Indian Police Service Officer Jasbir Singh, appointed as the Election Observer (Police) for the election district, took stock of the preparedness in the law and order front. Apart from Deputy Commissioner and District Election Officer (DEO) Dilip Kumar Borah, who also happens to be the returning officer of Mangaldai (SC) constituency, the meeting was also attended by the other three returning officers, assistant returning officers, the in-charges of all the cells, among others.

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