Sudden poll announcement catches officials off guard

Officials involved in the preparations for the Assembly elections in the district appeared to be caught off guard by the announcement of the polls on Sunday (March 15). The announcement forced a section of officials to cancel their weekend leave plans while the election wing had to conduct a training late at night online, sources said.

Officials designated as presiding officers were forced to cancel their leaves as it became clear that they had to start election related works on Monday (March 16). Meanwhile, the election wing had to advance a training session for returning officers and assistant returning officers to Sunday night itself.

“Training for around 100 officials was conducted online from 7.30 p.m. to around midnight on Sunday. The sessions were originally scheduled for Monday and Tuesday (March 17),” a source involved in the matter said.

Officials said the announcement came at least a few days before they expected, and it has pushed them to “race against time.”

The officials have to finish tasks, including randomisation of polling officials, remaining training and formation and deployment of monitoring squads in the coming days.

“It’s a fact that we have only a limited time. However, we have to speed up the work accordingly,” a key election official said.