Election Commissioner Dr. Vivek Joshi held a high-level review meeting in Patna today with Chief Electoral Officer of Bihar Vinod Singh Gunjiyal and other officials regarding preparations for the upcoming Bihar Legislative Assembly elections.

The Election Commissioner is currently on a four-day visit to Bihar. During the high level review meeting, he reviewed the preparations for the upcoming assembly elections, compliance with the Model Code of Conduct, special summary revision of the voter’s list, public awareness and SVEEP activities to increase voter turnout.

He got first hand direct information from officials about preparations related to law and order, management of polling personnel, arrangements related to facilities for disabled and elderly voters, security arrangements, and the grievance redressal mechanism.

Election Commissioner Dr. Joshi emphasized making the election process transparent, peaceful, and with maximum participation. He directed officials to complete all election-related tasks impartially and in a timely manner. The Election Commissioner directed ensuring minimum essential facilities at all 77,895 polling booths in Bihar. According to the final publication of the voter list, the total number of voters in Bihar is approximately 78 million. The Election Commissioner directed that no eligible citizen should be deprived of adding their name to the voter list.

He also expressed concern about Bihar’s voter turnout being lower than the national average during past various elections. The Election Commissioner called for creating a comprehensive strategy to increase voter turnout and implementing it down to the micro-level. He emphasized making voting participation more inclusive by including third genders, the elderly, women, and weaker sections.

Tomorrow, Dr. Joshi will inspect the First Level Checking of EVMs in Motihari, and he will hold review meetings and undertake field visits with the District Magistrate, Superintendent of Police, Electoral Registration Officer, and BLOs in Bettiah in West Champaran district.

On Sunday, he will hold a meeting with the officers of the Indo-Nepal border security SSB in Valmiki Nagar and conduct field visits. Before departing for Delhi on Monday, he will conduct field visits in Vaishali district and assess the ground reality.