Heads and officers of the Election Commissions of five countries are visiting India to observe and study the preparations for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and various stages of the process.
A team visited Belagavi on Monday and met officials of the district administration and Election Commission of India who are engaged in the preparations.
The team had representatives of five countries, Cambodia, Moldova, Nepal, Seychelles and Tunisia.
The team members went to the Deputy Commissioner’s office, city corporation and the mustering centre at Vanita Vidyalaya in the city.
Deputy Commissioner and District Election Officer Nitesh Patil took the team around. He told the representatives about the various processes involved in conducting the elections.
The team members spoke to the officers involved in mustering and allotment of EVMs and VVPAT machines and other equipment and vanity kits for staff being sent to polling booths.
The visiting group members at the Department of Information to study the work of poll duty officials who are monitoring news and advertisements in Belagavi on Monday. | Photo Credit: P.K. Badiger
Smooth conduct
Chief Election Commissioner of Nepal Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya told reporters that the team is very happy to see that the Election Commission of India is conducting the polls smoothly.
“We liked the fact that the officials are well trained and that there is great coordination between the district, State and Central agencies. We are happy about the enforcement of rules involving expenditure ceiling, participation of agents in meetings with Election Commission of India officials at different stages and the various field and office teams working in tandem,” he said.
He said that the representatives are happy about the use of EVMs and other technological tools in the conduct of the elections.
The team consisted of member of the National Election Commission of Cambodia Hel Sarath, member of Central Electoral Commission of Moldova Dana Munteanu, chairperson of Electoral Commission of Seychelles Danny Sylva Lucas, commissioner of Electoral Commission of Seychelles Norlis Nicholas Rose-Hoareau and member and official spokesman of Independent High Commission for Elections of Tunisia Mnasri Mohamed Tlili, apart from Mr. Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya.
Mr. Patil said that it is a matter of pride for Karnataka and Belagavi that representatives of so many countries arrived to see for themselves how elections are conducted in the country. He said that the team will also witness mock voting and real voting that will be held on Tuesday.
