Shillong, May 12 (IANS) Meghalaya Chief Electoral Officer BDR Tiwari on Tuesday said that the Election Department is fully prepared to conduct the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in the state and is awaiting the schedule from the Election Commission of India.

Speaking to reporters in Shillong, Tiwari said the process would begin as soon as the Commission announces the official schedule for the exercise.

“The department is ready to conduct the Special Intensive Revision in Meghalaya. We are awaiting the schedule from the Election Commission, and the process will start as and when the schedule is announced,” he said.

The Chief Electoral Officer assured that the revision exercise would be carried out transparently, in strict compliance with all guidelines laid down by the Election Commission.

The Election Commission is expected to launch the third phase of the Special Intensive Revision exercise in the coming days.

Officials said Phase III would cover the remaining 22 states and Union Territories, including Meghalaya, and is expected to involve nearly 40 crore electors across the country who were not covered in the earlier phases.

The rollout of the exercise in several states, including Meghalaya, had reportedly been deferred due to the recently concluded Assembly elections in Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and Puducherry.

Officials said the revision process assumes significance in Meghalaya due to concerns raised over the years about illegal immigration, duplicate voter entries, and the inclusion of non-genuine voters in electoral rolls.

Meghalaya shares a long and porous international border with Bangladesh, and several tribal organisations and political parties have repeatedly demanded stricter scrutiny of voter lists.

Meanwhile, Tiwari also stated that the state Election Department is prepared to conduct the Shillong Parliamentary by-election and is awaiting the Commission’s announcement of the poll schedule.

The by-election is necessitated following the demise of Shillong Member of Parliament Ricky AJ Syngkon a couple of months ago.

As per constitutional provisions, the bypoll must be held within 6 months of the date of the vacancy.

Tiwari said all necessary preparations are in place for the smooth conduct of the election once directions are received from the Election Commission.

–IANS

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