EC appoints special observers in six states to ensure free, fair elections
New Delhi, April 2
The Election Commission today appointed retired civil servants as special observers for administrative, security and expenditure monitoring purposes in several states to ensure a level playing field during the upcoming Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.
Will have defined task
- Can seek requisite inputs from time to time from election observers without interfering in their work
- Mandated to seek inputs and coordinate with regional heads and nodal officers of various monitoring agencies
- Will focus on border areas and work towards plugging the inflow of inducements and addressing public grievances
The special observers have been tasked with the responsibility of checking misinformation and the influence of money and muscle power, the Election Commission (EC) said. “The main objective is to identify areas for improvement and to formulate concrete and operative recommendations. Special observers will station themselves at the state headquarters and, if needed, tour sensitive areas that require necessary coordination,” it said.
Special observers (general and police) have been deployed in six states: Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. Special expenditure observers have been deployed in five states: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh.
In Bihar, retired IAS officer Manjit Singh will be the special general observer and Vivek Dube, former IPS officer, will be the special police observer. In Maharashtra, Dharmendra S Gangwar, a retired IAS, has been made general special observer while NK Mishra, a former IPS, is the police special observer. In Uttar Pradesh, retired IAS officer Ajay V Nayak is the general special observer and Manmohan Singh, a former IPS officer, is the police special observer. Similarly, in Andhra Pradesh, the general special observer is retired IAS officer Ram Mohan Mishra and the police special observer is former IPS Deepak Mishra.
Former IAS officer Yogendra Tripathi and retired IPS Rajnikant Mishra have been appointed as a general special observer and police special observer for Odisha. In West Bengal, the general special observer is former IAS Alok Sinha and the police special observer is retired IPS Anil Kumar Sharma. The special expenditure observers for the five states are Rajesh Tuteja in Uttar Pradesh, Himalini Kashyap in Odisha, B Murali Kumar in Karnataka, Neena Nigam in Andhra Pradesh and BR Balakrishnan in Tamil Nadu. All are former Indian Revenue Service officers.
“The observers have been entrusted with the crucial and solemn responsibility to ensure the fairness, impartiality and credibility of elections, which ultimately forms the bedrock of our democratic polity,” said the EC.
DMs, SPs and DIGs of 5 states transferred
New Delhi, April 2
The EC on Tuesday issued transfer orders for District Magistrates (DM), Superintendent of Police (SP) and DIG/IG rank officers in five states, including Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. The decision was taken as part of the regular review by the Commission.
The officials transferred are as follows — Assam: DM of Udalgiri; Bihar: DM and SP of Bhojpur and Nawada districts; Jharkhand: SP Deoghar. The ECI has also issued directions to the state administration to fill up vacant posts of SP (Rural) Ranchi, DIG Palamu, IG Dumka and send panel of officials to it. In Odisha, DM of Cuttack and Jagatsinghpur, SP of Angul, Behrampur, Khurda, Rourkela; as well as DCP of Cuttack and IG Central have been transferred. In AP, the DM of Krishna, Ananthpuramu, Tirupati districts; SP of Prakasham, Palnadu, Chittoor, Anathpuramu, Nellore districts; and IGP Guntur Range have been transferred. — TNS
