Today, the Election Commission held a review meeting with the Chief Secretaries, CEOs, DGPs, and senior officers of the five states going to the polls and their twelve bordering states and Union Territories, to assess preparedness, enhance coordination, and ensure violence-free, intimidation-free, and inducement-free elections. Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, along with Election Commissioners Dr. S.S. Sandhu and Dr. Vivek Joshi, reviewed the preparedness and law-and-order situation in Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal, as well as six states where by-elections are scheduled. They also inspected the seizure of illegal cash, liquor, narcotics, weapons, and expenditure-sensitive constituencies for the upcoming General Election. During the meeting, the states going to the polls briefed the Commission on their overall preparations, law and order issues, enforcement of expenditure limits, and any concerns or pending issues with central agencies and neighboring states. Special emphasis was placed on border districts and the sealing of borders to maintain peace and order in the states and Union Territories going to the polls.
In this regard, the neighboring border states were directed to take all possible steps to assist the states and Union Territories going to the polls, ensuring inducement-free and violence-free elections. The heads of agencies, including the Central Board of Direct Taxes, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, the Enforcement Directorate, the Indian Coast Guard, the Assam Rifles, and others, were instructed to ensure enhanced checks at interstate checkpoints and heightened vigilance in the states and Union Territories going to the polls, as well as in areas bordering these states and Union Territories. In addition, central agencies, including the Narcotics Control Bureau, the Income Tax Department, the Central Goods and Services Tax, and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, were also directed to intensify their efforts in the run-up to the polls.
