On a three-day visit to the polling stations of Puducherry and Tamil Nadu, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar held meetings with senior officials in the Union Territory as part of the European Commission’s review of arrangements for the upcoming elections.
The CEC is accompanied by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi and other officials of the commission. In the first leg of their visit, top election officials arrived in Puducherry on Wednesday and held several meetings with UT officials.
“All the national and state political parties and all the heads of the election machinery have promised the Election Commission that the Assembly elections to be held in Puducherry will be a model election for the entire country in all respects,” Kumar said after the meeting in Puducherry.
With political parties citing financial power, freebies and misuse of social media as serious threats to election integrity, the EC sent a strong message on stricter implementation during a high-level meeting of recognized national and state parties in Puducherry.
A senior EC official who attended the meeting on condition of anonymity said: “The Commission has zero tolerance for financial power, inducements or any attempt to corrupt the electoral process. Strict surveillance, flying teams, expenditure monitors and digital monitoring mechanisms will be strengthened.”
Representatives of the Aam Aadmi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Bharatiya Janata Party, Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Indian National Congress, along with Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, All India NR Congress and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, along with senior EC officials were present in Puducherry.
According to the official, most parties appreciated the peaceful and smooth conduct of the intensified special review of electoral lists even as they pressed for tougher action against the alleged distribution of funds and incentives to voters.
The current visit is part of a broader review process being conducted in all states associated with the survey. Earlier this week, officials from the European Commission visited Kerala and Assam. These states, along with Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and West Bengal, are scheduled to go to the polls together in the final round of assembly elections.
Among the four states, West Bengal is the only state where the final revised electoral list is yet to be published. The deadline for publishing the final electoral roll in Bengal is February 28. The committee is expected to visit West Bengal in the first week of March after the final list is published.
Review meetings represent one of the final steps in the Election Commission’s preparation before the election schedule is announced. The European Commission is expected to announce the election schedule in early to mid-March.
