The Election Commission of India (ECI) has mobilised over 2.5 million personnel to conduct “violence-free” and “inducement-free” Assembly elections in Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, along with bye-elections in six other states.
The large-scale deployment follows the announcement of the poll schedule on March 15 and will cover more than 174 million eligible voters across the five states and the Union Territory, translating to roughly one election official for every 70 voters.
Announcing the schedule, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said officials have been directed to act with complete impartiality to ensure that every elector is able to vote “without fear or favour”.
The deployment includes around 1.5 million polling personnel, 850,000 security staff, 40,000 counting officials, 49,000 micro-observers, 21,000 sector magistrates and an additional 15,000 micro-observers assigned to counting duties.
More than 218,000 booth-level officers will assist voters through phone support as well as the “Book-a-Call to BLO” facility available on the ECINet app, while a toll-free helpline, 1950, has been activated for election-related queries and complaints at the district and returning officer levels.
All personnel deployed for election duty will be deemed to be on deputation to the Commission under Section 28A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, the ECI said.
The Commission has also stationed 1,111 central observers across 832 Assembly constituencies, including 557 general observers, 188 police observers and 366 expenditure observers, most of whom have already reached their assigned locations. Observers have been asked to publicly share their contact details and hold daily meetings to address grievances from candidates, political parties and the public.
As per the schedule, polling in Kerala, Assam and Puducherry will be held in a single phase on April 9, while Tamil Nadu will vote on April 23. Elections in West Bengal will be conducted in two phases on April 23 and April 29, with counting of votes for all five Assemblies scheduled for May 4.
