New Delhi, Oct 5 (IANS) As preparations for the high-stakes Bihar Assembly elections gather pace, the Election Commission of India (ECI) is set to continue its intensive two-day review of the state’s poll readiness on Sunday to ensure free and fair elections.

On the second day of its visit, the top ECI team, led by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, is holding crucial meetings in Patna with enforcement agencies to assess and strengthen measures aimed at curbing the misuse of money and muscle power, two key challenges in Bihar’s electoral landscape.

The Commission is engaging today with senior officials from the Income Tax Department, police, and other enforcement bodies to review action plans for ensuring transparency and integrity in the upcoming elections. These interactions focus on enhancing inter-agency coordination, stepping up vigilance, and deploying targeted strategies to ensure a level playing field for all political parties.

Later in the day, the Commission will hold strategic meetings with the Chief Electoral Officer, the State Police Nodal Officer, and representatives of central security forces to assess operational preparedness. This will be followed by a high-level review of overall state-level coordination with the Chief Secretary, Director General of Police, and other senior bureaucrats.

The ECI will also hold a press conference at 2 p.m. today to brief the media on key developments. The briefing will include a summary of the preparedness reviewed so far, feedback received from political parties, and an outline of the roadmap ahead.

On Saturday, the ECI team, comprising CEC Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Dr. Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Dr. Vivek Joshi, held wide-ranging consultations with representatives of major national and regional parties, including BJP, Congress, JD(U), RJD, LJP (Ram Vilas), RLJP, CPI, CPI(M), CPI(ML-Liberation), BSP, AAP, and NPP.

Calling political parties “significant stakeholders of a strong democracy”, the Commission urged them to engage actively in the electoral process by appointing polling and counting agents. It also encouraged all parties to celebrate elections in a festive and inclusive manner.

Political parties, while appreciating ECI’s efforts in completing the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and cleansing the electoral rolls, requested that elections be scheduled soon after the Chhath festival and conducted in fewer phases to boost voter turnout. They also welcomed reforms like capping electors per polling station at 1,200, timely postal ballot counting, and the mandatory handover of Form 17C to party agents post polling.

–IANS

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