Assam: EC team led by Deputy Election Commissioner in state on two-day visit to review LS poll preparedness

An ECI team led by Deputy Election Commissioner Hirdesh Kumar on Tuesday arrived in Assam on a two-day visit, during which it will hold meetings with various stakeholders ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

According to a senior official, the team of the Election Commission of India (ECI) reached Guwahati in the afternoon and started discussions on various issues for holding “free and fair” elections in Assam.

“Deputy Election Commissioner Hirdesh Kumar is leading the team of ECI officials. Today, they held the first meeting with Chief Electoral Officer Anurag Goel and State Police Nodal Officer Prasanta Kumar Bhuyan,” she added.

The second meeting is with different enforcement agencies, who will be issued guidance on how to function after the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) comes into force.

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“The last meeting of the day will take place between the ECI team and Chief Secretary Paban Kumar Borthakur, DGP Gyanendra Pratap Singh and other senior officials. They will review the entire poll preparedness in the meeting,” the official said.

On Wednesday, the central poll agency team will have a day-long meeting with all District Election Officers (DEO) and Superintendents of Police of the state, she added.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, on the sidelines of an official programme, told reporters that the Assam government will request the ECI team to complete voting in the state before the Rongali Bihu festival.

Rongali Bihu, the main cultural festival of the state marking the beginning of the Assamese New Year, will start on April 13 this year.

Assam has 14 Lok Sabha MPs, of whom nine belong to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), while three are of the opposition Congress and one of the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), besides an Independent MP.