Maharashtra Assembly Election 2019: EC appoints expenditure observers

As per a statement issued by the poll panel, Mahajan would be required to watch the conduct of Elections with special emphasis on controlling the abuse of money power, in consultation with the Chief Electoral Officer at Mumbai.

The Election Commission on Monday appointed two former Indian Revenue Service officers, Madhu Mahajan and B Murali Kumar as Special Expenditure Observers for the forthcoming Elections to the Legislative Assembly of Maharashtra.

Mahajan was also appointed Special Expenditure Observer for Tamil Nadu and Karnataka in the recent Lok Sabha elections. (HT image)

As per a statement issued by the poll panel, Mahajan would be required to watch the conduct of Elections with special emphasis on controlling the abuse of money power, in consultation with the Chief Electoral Officer at Mumbai.

“Kumar will be based at Pune to look into matters in rest of the State with officers and Election Authorities as deemed necessary,” the EC said in a statement.

The mandate of the Special Observers is to supervise and monitor the work being done by the teams engaged in electoral work and ensure that stringent and effective enforcement action is undertaken based on intelligence inputs and complaints received through C-VIGIL, Voter Helpline 1950 against all persons or groups trying to induce voters by distributing cash, liquor or freebies in order to vitiate the poll process.