New Delhi, Jan 27: The Election Commission today directed its observers to keep a close watch to ensure that the campaign does not assume any communal overtones in Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura where assembly polls are scheduled for February 26.
Chief Election Commissioner J M Lyngdoh gave this directive to poll observers at a special briefing for them attended by other election commissioners T S Krishnamurthy and B B Tandon, EC sources said.
As many as 62 senior IAS officers have been appointed as general observers and 29 IAS and IRS officers have been designated as expenditure observers for the ensuing polls in four states. The observers would leave on February 5.
The observers would cover the entire poll process from the issue of notifications on January 31 till the counting of votes on March 1.
Stating that the home ministry has provided the security needed for conducting free and fair polls, Lyngdoh directed the observers not to assign any poll related work to special
police officers, the sources said.
On assembly polls in Nagaland, the sources said, the CEC hoped no major security problem in the state would arise since NSCN (IM) leadership has already announced that they would not disrupt the elections although they would not participate in them.
Lyngdoh also asked the observers to maintain a strict vigil on candidates in Tripura to ensure that they did not take any help from insurgents, the sources said.
Bureau Report
