The Election Commission of India (ECI) is doing its best to ensure a peaceful, voter- friendly, free and fair election during all the five-phases in Bihar. A full team of the ECI which arrived here on Sunday held a series of meetings with top officials of the State Government, all the nodal officers responsible for holding the elections as well as with Excise and Income-Tax Department officials and issued necessary directives to them.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Nasim Zaidi said he had directed the Chief Electoral Officer to take notice of inflammatory speeches or statements by politicians including caste oriented remarks. He was informed that some politicians were using caste as a catch word during their campaign. He said action would be taken against such violations under the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) and the relevant laws.
He said the ECI was keeping a close vigil on the misuse of money to lure voters and 72 hours before polling begins there would be strict vigil on this aspect. He said 62 constituencies had been identified where misuse of money was apprehended. A flying squad and surveillance teams, both fitted with GPS, would be pressed into service to check this menace, he said and added during vehicle checks Rs 9 crore have been seized so far, which was a record as only Rs 6 crore was seized during the last election.
Flanked by Election Commissioners Achal Kumar Jyoti and OP Rawat, the CEC said all the DMs and SPs had been instructed to ensure communal harmony during the festivals falling in between the five phases. It will be the personal responsibility of the DMs and SPs to maintain harmony and to ensure that voters were not coerced or terrified. He said on all the polling stations central forces would be deployed. Special vigilance had been ordered in left extremist affected regions and riverine areas.
Zaidi said local administrations had been ordered to decide on the hoardings of the political parties without any discrimination. MCC he said, would be enforced uniformly.
Bihar has 6.68 crore voters including 24 lakh new voters aged over 18 years who will vote for the first time. About 11 lakh names have been added and ordered to be issued voter ID cards, he added.
About the transfer and posting of the officials in Bihar by the ECI without seeking panel of names from the State Government, Zaidi said the ECI had detailed assessment of the officials and their impartiality and suitability for utilising them during the elections.
“We are conscious of our duty and took action under the law and as per the precedence,” he added.
Soon after the announcement of the elections the ECI had transferred the Home Secretary and appointed another official without taking the State Government into confidence in the matter.