New Delhi: As the first phase of polling of the Lok Sabha elections is set to take place on April 19 the Election Commission of India has directed over 350 poll observers to ensure that elections are conducted smoothly.
Notably, along with 102 parliamentary constituencies in 21 states, polling will also take place and 92 assembly constituencies in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim on April 19. The ECI has deployed 127 General Observers, 67 Police Observers and 167 Expenditure Observers and all have reported in constituencies before the last date of nomination, March 26.
Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar along with Election Commissioners Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu interacted with all the observers and asked them to strictly ensure that polling stations contain all amenities for voters.
They laid special emphasis on ensuring there are sufficient amenities for voters to combat the heat, no inducements are offered close to the voting of the first phase, the forces are optimally utilised and law and order are kept under strict watch.
The Lok Sabha elections for 543 seats are being held in seven phases: April 19, April 27, May 7, May 13, May 20, May 25 and June 1. The counting of votes will take place on June 4.
Assembly elections in the four states of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh will also be held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls.
In another big development, the ECI abolished the procedure of filling Form-M for the displaced people from the valley who are residing in Jammu and Udhampur to facilitate voting by Kashmiri migrants in the General Elections 2024.
Additionally, for the migrants residing outside Jammu and Udhampur (who will continue to submit Form M), ECI has authorized the self-attestation of the certificate appended with Form M, thus removing the hassle of getting this certificate attested by the Gazetted Officer. Earlier on Thursday this week, a significant deployment of security personnel was done in the Marwah and Warwan areas of the Kishtwar District in Jammu and Kashmir. “In preparation for 1st phase of Lok Sabha Elections 2024, a significant deployment of security personnel was executed in Marwah and Warwan areas of Kishtwar District in J&K yesterday jointly by District Election Office Kishtwar and Indian Air Force,” the Election Commission stated in a post on social media platform X.
