The Election Commission of India (ECI) will begin its review of poll preparedness in Kerala on Thursday, before travelling to West Bengal on the night of March 8 for a two-day assessment ahead of the upcoming assembly elections in both states.
The Kerala meetings will focus on electoral roll status, security planning and administrative readiness for the upcoming polls.
According to the schedule, the ECI will hold multiple rounds of meetings on March 9 and March 10 with the state’s election machinery, district election officers, police officials and other administrative authorities. The discussions will focus on scrutiny of voter records currently under adjudication by judicial officers. These cases largely relate to discrepancies detected during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, including issues such as age mismatches with parents, irregular family linkages and other documentary inconsistencies that require verification.
Senior ECI officials said “the Commission will also review overall poll preparedness in the state, including law-and-order arrangements, vulnerability mapping of sensitive areas, preparedness of district administrations, and the progress of corrections and updates in the electoral roll”. The review assumes significance as West Bengal has reported a large number of cases placed under adjudication during the roll revision process.
The visit is part of a broader series of pre-election reviews being undertaken by the ECI in poll-bound states ahead of the assembly elections scheduled later this year. An ECI official in the poll panel said “such visits help the Commission assess ground-level preparedness and identify logistical or security challenges before the election schedule is formally announced”.
With the completion of the visits to Kerala and West Bengal, the poll body will conclude its round of ground reviews for all the states going to polls this year. Officials indicated that once these visits are over, the ECI will move closer to finalising the broader election roadmap and schedule for the upcoming assembly elections.
