Election observers inspect facilities

Mandi, May 30

The general, expenditure and police observers, appointed for the Mandi constituency, assessed and inspected the election management in Mandi district yesterday.

They directed all district election officers and police superintendents to comply with the Election Commission’s 72-hour SOP (Standard Operating Procedure).

In the meeting, general observer Vineet Nandanwar and police observer Manjunath were present, while expenditure observer Rakesh Jha and the Deputy Commissioners of Kullu, Lahaul and Spiti and Kinnaur attended the meeting virtually.

“Duty by monitoring teams is being carried out transparently. Flying squads and static surveillance teams have been formed to closely monitor every activity in the district. Necessary arrangements have been made at the polling booths for the proper movement of EVMs and VVPAT machines after voting,” said Mandi Deputy Commissioner Apoorv Devgan.

General observer Vineet Nandanwar instructed district election officers to exercise increased vigilance. Police Observer Manjunath ensured that there were no shortcomings in security arrangements for polling. The movement of EVMs and VVPAT machines should not happen without police personnel and this should be strictly followed, he added.

SP Sakshi Verma stated that the vigilance has been heightened, with strict surveillance through CCTV cameras on every activity.

Additional Deputy Commissioner Rohit Rathore and Election Tehsildar Rajesh Sharma were also present.