Be warned, secret eyes will watch voters

Micro observers to play ‘Big Brother’ for Election Commission during elections

Silchar/Guwahati, March 21 : Beware of the micro observers. This is one piece of “friendly advice” doing the rounds among the police and bureaucratic fraternity responsible for the fair and peaceful conduct of the upcoming parliamentary elections in the state. The Election Commission has introduced micro observers for elections in the Northeast along with the rest of the country after the experiment met with success in Karnataka and Gujarat. They will be the poll panel’s “eyes and ears” to observe any slippage, violation of rules and law and order problems in the polling booths. “We are on our guard and that is what we are advising each other. Anyone trying to do any political party’s bidding during the election process may get into big trouble and even jeopardise his career,” a senior police official said.  He said unlike the central observers, the micro observers would not be identifiable. The official said a police officer had attracted the poll panel’s ire, apparently for being close to a leader of a political party.  “We are right now under the Election Commission and any lapse on our part could cost us dear,” the official said.  The micro observers would be detailed mainly to keep an eye on false voting and booth capturing by supporters of candidates. Assam’s chief electoral officer (CEO) Hemanta Narzary, told The Telegraph that these micro observers would act as the “eyes and ears” of the poll panel to observe any “slippage, violation of the rules and law and order problem” in the booths during voting.  He said on the basis of the reports of these micro observers, the Election Commission would decide on the need for a repoll. They will monitor the progress of polling in the assigned booths and be required to perform each of their tasks in a “rather unobtrusive and quiet manner”.  Narzary said the Election Commission, impressed by the service rendered by such micro observers in the recent polls in Karnataka and Gujarat, decided to replicate this model in the parliamentary elections. He hoped the presence of such observers the polling booths would help ensure clean, transparent and hassle-free polling, which he termed the hallmark of any election.  A large number of ‘special officers’ have also been inducted by the commission to monitor the booths. They were drawn from among the government staff as well as non-governmental establishments such as schools, NGOs and voluntary services.  These special officers will help police and election office staff weed out fake voters from the electoral rolls and act as “listening posts” at the grassroots level through interactions with voters.  Narzari said the deputy commissioners in the state had already provided his office with the requirements for the additional paramilitary reinforcements during the polls.  The security personnel would be deployed keeping in mind the threat perceptions of possible trouble in the districts and the logistical requirements of shifting them from one place to another.