CEC holds video conference with election observers for phases five, six of Lok Sabha polls
May 15, 2024
New Delhi [India], May 15 : The Election Commission of India led by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, along with ECs Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu on Wednesday held a video conference with General, Police and Expenditure Observers being deployed in 49 Parliamentary Constituencies for phase five and 57 Parliamentary Constituencies in Phase six of the General Elections 2024.
The Election Commission of India informed about the video conference on its official X handle.
Meanwhile, earlier in the day, the ECI summoned the Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police (DGP) of Andhra Pradesh to New Delhi tomorrow to "personally explain" the recent surge in post-poll violence in the state, sources said.
This directive comes as the ECI takes a stringent stance on the failure of the local administration to contain the unrest following the elections.
According to the sources, the Commission has demanded a detailed explanation from the officials regarding the lapses in maintaining law and order and the preemptive measures being implemented to prevent further incidents. The ECI emphasised the continued enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct and the necessity for stringent actions to ensure peace.
The ECI has repeatedly emphasised that there is no place for violence in a democracy and since the announcement of Lok Sabha elections, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar has been personally monitoring the election space to ensure peaceful and violence-free conduct of polls.
Post-poll violence was reported in parts of Andhra Pradesh on Monday.
Notably, a day before in a press release, the ECI informed that it disposed of 90 per cent of 425 complaints it received in the last two months and no major complaints were pending from parties except Congress and BJP.
In the press release, the ECI expressed satisfaction with the overall conduct of the campaign during this period. They noted that the campaign space has been "violence-free, less noisy, less cluttered and intrusive, and free of inducement and ostentatiousness."
The ECI added further, "Approximately 425 major complaints, excluding canvassing related or clarificatory complaints, have been filed by various political parties and candidates at the level of ECI and CEOs. Of these, action has been taken (or matter disposed) in 400 cases."
