Patna, May 16 (IANS) Election Commissioner of India Vivek Joshi on Friday chaired a high-level meeting in Patna to review preparations for the upcoming Bihar Assembly polls, an official said.

The meeting was attended by Chief Electoral Officer of Bihar, Vinod Singh Gunjiyal, State Police Nodal Officer Kundan Krishnan, District Magistrate and District Election Officer Patna Chandrashekhar Singh, Senior Superintendent of Police-Patna, Avkash Kumar, and other senior officials.

During the meeting, detailed presentations were made on electoral preparedness, law and order measures, and polling infrastructure, particularly for the Patna district.

Dr. Joshi emphasised the importance of conducting free, fair, inclusive, and peaceful elections with maximum voter participation.

During the meeting, officials presented the initiatives taken in the model code of conduct compliance, special summary revision of voter list, systematic voters’ education and electoral participation, law and order situation, polling staff management, accessibility for PwD and senior citizens and grievance redressal mechanism.

The Election Commissioner expressed concern over low youth voter registration.

While the estimated number of youth aged 18-19 in Bihar is around 64 lakh, currently only 8,08,857 are registered.

He directed officials to intensify efforts to increase youth registration.

He also highlighted that Bihar’s average voting percentage of 56.28 per cent in the last Lok Sabha elections was significantly below the national average of 66.10 per cent, and called for a micro-level strategy to boost voter turnout.

The CEO of Bihar mentioned the number of total voters is approx. 7.80 crore including 7,69,046 PwD voters, 5,91,347 senior voters (85+) and 77,895 polling stations.

Joshi stressed the need to ensure essential facilities at all polling stations and emphasized inclusive participation, particularly for PwD and elderly voters. He is expected to visit Motihari, East Champaran and also review the election preparation in Bettiah (West Champaran).

On Sunday, he will meet SSB officials and conduct an area visit in Valmiki Nagar and on Monday, he will review the preparation at the ground level in Vaishali.

These inspections aim to evaluate voter facilities, security arrangements, training programmes, and the overall readiness of electoral machinery on the ground.

The Election Commission, through this visit, reiterates its commitment to conducting transparent, peaceful, and participatory elections in Bihar.

–IANS

ajk/pgh