EC appoints two former IRS officers as special expenditure observers for Bihar elections

NEW DELHI: The Election Commission has appointed two former Indian Revenue Service officers as special expenditure observers for the Bihar Assembly polls to oversee efforts by the enforcement machinery to check attempts to induce voters with cash, liquor and freebies.

Retired IRS officers Madhu Mahajan of the 1982 batch and B R Balakrishnan of the 1983 batch have been appointed as special expenditure observers for the Bihar polls, the Commission said in a statement on Sunday.

Election Commission of India appoints Madhu Mahajan, and BR Balakrishnan, as Special Expenditure Observers for General Election to Legislative Assembly of Bihar, 2020. pic.twitter.com/8xWP4YijfF

— ANI (@ANI) October 4, 2020

The special expenditure observers, in consultation with the state chief electoral officer, will supervise and monitor the work being done by the electoral machinery.

They will also ensure that stringent and effective enforcement action is undertaken based on intelligence inputs and complaints received through C- VIGIL application and voter helpline against all persons or entities trying to induce voters by distributing cash, liquor and freebies, it said.

Mahajan was appointed as the special expenditure observer for Tamil Nadu and Karnataka during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and the Maharashtra Assembly polls in the same year.

Balakrishnan was the special expenditure observer for an Assembly by-election in Telangana in 2019.

The three-phase Assembly elections in Bihar will begin on October 28.