Jharkhand: ECI team reviews the poll preparations in the state

The Election Commission of India led by its chief Sunil Arora on Thursday reviewed the poll preparations in Ranchi with the Chief Secretary, the Director-General of Police and other enforcement agencies of the state. On Wednesday, the Election Commission team held a series of meetings with various political party leaders and civil administration.

Sunil Arora addressing a press conference stated, "We held a meeting with the political parties because they are the biggest stakeholders after voters. We have also met the state officials such as DG, IG, DM and also some regulatory agencies such as Income Tax, Railways, Postal department."

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Preparations made for the polls 

Commenting on the preparations done by the Election Commission team for the upcoming state legislative assembly elections, Sunil Arora added that special arrangements have been made keeping in mind the disabled voters that are going to come to cast their votes.  "For disabled voters, we have made special arrangements for this category. It was one of our priorities. Some of the leaders also suggested that NGOs should be roped in to create awareness among the disabled about the importance of voting. This time we have appointed Divisional commissioners to contact with the disabled," Arora added.

The Chief Election Officer further talked about the preparations to combat the menace of Naxalism during the election period, saying, "Jharkhand has received special help from the Centre for the same. There was a report that out of 16 districts of Jharkhand, 13 are affected by Left Wing.

The state has got as much as Rs 340 crores for the same." The Chief Election Officer concluding the press conference stated that the noose has been tightened around the use of money power during electioneering and "investigation will be carried out against those found guilty."

The Election Commission (EC) on November 1, announced the assembly polls date for Jharkhand. Addressing a press briefing, Sunil Arora said that voting to 81-seats of Jharkhand Assembly will be held in five phases. The first phase will begin on November 30 and the counting will take place on December 23. Highlighting that as many as 19 districts are Maoist-hit, CEC Sunil Arora emphasized that five phases will ensure security in the voting process and said that MCC will be implemented after press meet. The tenure of the Jharkhand Legislative Assembly ending on December 27.

Here's the schedule.

• Phase 1: November 30, 2019
• Phase 2: December 7, 2019
• Phase 3: December 12, 2019
• Phase 4: December 16, 2019
• Phase 5: December 20, 2019
• Date of counting: December 23, 2019

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(INPUTS FROM ANI)