SHILLONG, Oct 12: The Meghalaya Legislative Assembly elections are around the corner and the build-up is gradually catching the heat. With four months until the poll showdown, the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) as well as the district election machinery has set the ball rolling by kicking off preparations for the elections.
Although the date for the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) visit to oversee the situation in the poll-bound state is not certain, there is speculation that the ECI team may make the visit after wrapping up their business in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, which will also be going to polls.
As far as the preparations in Meghalaya are concerned, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) FR Kharkongor, on Wednesday, said that the draft electoral rolls will be published on November 9.
He also said the number of polling stations this time has gone up from 3,335 to 3,482, registering a jump of 147 polling stations.
According to the CEO, an Urban Apathy Electoral Outreach campaign was launched on October 7 in Shillong which will also be carried out in Tura, Jowai and other district headquarters with a focus on pockets where electoral gap is more than 25%.
The campaign is called #Roll 2 Poll, Mission UNITE (U and I towards Enrolment) 2.0.
According to Kharkongor, the first round of training for all deputy Commissioners has been completed in August, while the police training will be undertaken on October 14.
More rounds of training for the DCs and the election officials are in the pipeline.
The first-Level checking of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) will commence in November in all districts, the CEO said, while adding that all districts have been directed to prepare the district-level master plan.
One round of review meeting with office of the East Khasi Hills DC and the election team has been conducted, while similar review meetings will be convened in the future.
“Right now, our focus is on enrolment through the upcoming Special Summary Revision process,” Kharkongor added.
It is pertinent to note here that political parties and aspiring candidates have become more active of late with public meeting speaking on several issues being conducted in several constituencies.
Tapping into the contemporary facilities at hand, many politicians and political parties are taking to different social websites to send their message across to the masses.
