Kolkata, April 2, 2024

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has appointed Special Observers for the General Elections to the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies 2024 today, to oversee the electoral process with utmost vigilance. A briefing chaired by Chief Election Commissioner Shri Rajiv Kumar along with Election Commissioners Shri Gyanesh Kumar and Shri Sukhbir Singh Sandhu was held on March 28, 2024 at Nirvachan Sadan, New Delhi.

Apart from West Bengal, Special Observers (General and Police) have been deployed in States of Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar where the population is more than 7 crores along with States of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha where the simultaneous elections to the Assemblies are to be held. The Special Observers have been entrusted with the crucial task of supervising the randomisation of personnel, security forces, and voting machines, thereby thwarting any attempts to subvert the democratic process and a level playing field.

For West Bengal, Shri Alok Sinha (Retired IAS Officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre) has been appointed as General Special Observer. Shri Anil Kumar Sharma (Retired IPS Officer of Punjab cadre) has been appointed as Police Special Observer.

General Special Observer Shri Sinha was an Additional Chief Secretary to the Uttar Pradesh Government and also served as Chairman, Airports authority of India. Shri sharma was the Intelligence Chief in Punjab and had been a special observer in the 2021 Assembly polls in West Bengal.

The Commission deployed Special Observers under the plenary powers conferred on it by Article 324 of the Constitution. The Observers are 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. These Special Observers not only help the Commission in fulfilling its constitutional mandate of conducting free, fair, transparent and inclusive elections but also to enhance the voter awareness and participation in elections.

The main objective of Special Observers is to identify areas for improvements and to formulate concrete and operative recommendations.

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SSS/2.4.24/

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