SHILLONG, Dec 10: As the race among the political spectrum of Meghalaya in view of the ensuing Assembly elections, the Meghalaya government in its preparations has sought 119 companies of Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) for the smooth conduct of the elections next year.
The Meghalaya Legislative Assembly elections are around the corner and the build-up is gradually catching the heat.
With barley two months until 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.
Speaking to The Shillong Times on Saturday, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) FR Kharkongor said that all assessment is being done as far as security is concerned. Out of 3,482 polling stations, 782 are vulnerable while 402 are critical, Kharkongor said, while adding that these numbers are dynamic.
He also informed that few meetings have been conducted with the Deputy Commissioners as part of the preparations. The Election department has asked all line departments to make assessment to ensure facilities like power supply, drinking water, toilet and even ramps at the polling stations, the CEO said.
Following the review meeting scheduled to be held in New Delhi next week, an expenditure management team of the Election Commission of India is due to visit Shillong within this month.
The EC’s team will hold discussions with different enforcement agencies like Income Tax, police, excise etc.
In addition, a full-fledged team of the ECI would also visit Meghalaya at a later stage.
It may be mentioned that an Urban Apathy Electoral Outreach campaign was launched earlier which is under way in Tura, Jowai and other district headquarters with a focus on pockets where electoral gap is more than 25%.
