New Delhi, Oct 3 (IANS) The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday conducted a comprehensive briefing session for General, Police, and Expenditure Observers who will be deployed as Central Observers for the upcoming Bihar Assembly polls and bye-elections in several states. A total of 425 senior officers, including 287 from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), 58 from the Indian Police Service (IPS), and 80 from the Indian Revenue Service (IRS), Indian Railway Accounts Service (IRAS), Indian Civil Accounts Service (ICAS) and other allied services, participated in the session held at the India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management (IIIDEM) in New Delhi.

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, along with Election Commissioners Dr Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Dr Vivek Joshi, presided over the meeting and addressed the Observers. Calling the Central Observers the “beacons of democracy”, CEC Kumar underlined their crucial role as the Commission’s “eyes and ears” in the field. He stressed that they must maintain neutrality, ensure strict compliance with election laws and guidelines, and provide the Commission with independent and real-time feedback from the ground. The Observers were specifically instructed to familiarise themselves thoroughly with election laws, rules, and procedures. They were also told that they must remain fully accessible to political parties, candidates, and voters for grievance redressal and must also closely monitor the campaign, polling, and counting processes.

They need to undertake field visits to polling stations to assess preparedness and ensure the smooth rollout of voter-centric initiatives recently introduced by the Commission. The CEC also reminded them that their mandate flows from Article 324 of the Constitution and Section 20B of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, which empowers the poll panel to appoint Central Observers for ensuring the conduct of free, fair, and transparent elections.

CEC Gyanesh Kumar will visit Bihar on Saturday, where he will meet the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) and other senior officials to take stock of preparedness before the formal announcement of the Assembly poll schedule. The term of the 243-member Bihar Assembly ends on November 22, and polls in the state are likely to be held in multiple phases after the festival of Chhath.