New Delhi, March 18: The Election Commission has deployed over 2.5 million officials to ensure violence-free and inducement-free elections in five states. On March 15, the Commission announced elections for the assemblies of Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal, along with by-elections in six other states.
To facilitate smooth and orderly elections across these states and union territories, more than 2.5 million election officials have been assigned. The total number of eligible voters in these elections exceeds 174 million, meaning there is approximately one election official for every 70 voters. Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar stated that officials have been instructed to act with complete impartiality to ensure that elections are free from violence and inducements, allowing every voter to cast their ballot without fear or bias.
Among the deployed personnel are approximately 1.5 million polling staff, 850,000 security personnel, 40,000 counting staff, 49,000 micro-observers, 21,000 sector officers, and 15,000 micro-observers for counting. Ground-level election machinery, including over 218,000 Booth Level Officers (BLOs), is available for voters through phone calls and the ECI Net app’s ‘Call BLO’ feature. A call center number +91 (STD code) 1950 is also available for registering any complaints or inquiries at the DEO/RO level.
All deployed personnel will be considered on deputation to the Election Commission under Section 28A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. To monitor the general and by-elections, 1,111 central observers have been deployed across 832 assembly constituencies. This includes 557 general observers, 188 police observers, and 366 expenditure observers. Most of the central observers have already reached their designated constituencies. They will share their contact details and meet with candidates, political parties, or any member of the public at a scheduled time each day to address election-related complaints.
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Arpit Soni has had a passion for journalism since the beginning. Now he has turned this hobby into his profession. Arpit, who is a resident of Udaipur, enjoys editing and writing news related to journalism. He has worked as a Senior Content Producer in several important roles at Bhaskar, Patrika, Pratahkal, Punjab Kesari, and Times. Arpit completed his schooling in Udaipur and Jaipur. He has been working in the media industry for more than 10 years, and his journey is still continuing. ✍️📚
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