Election Commission press release · 18 March 2026 · pibtracker filter

ECI deploys over 25 lakh Officials for violence-free, inducement-free elections in 5 States/UTs

PRID2241667 MinistryElection Commission Released18 March 2026 Reading8 min

Posted On: 18 MAR 2026 2:39PM by PIB Delhi The Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the schedule for the General Election to Legislative Assembly of Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal and bye-elections in 6 States on March 15, 2026 . To ensure the smooth and orderly progress of the various phases of elections in the 5 States/UTs, over 25 lakh election officials have been deployed. The total electors eligible to vote in these elections are over 17.4 crores. This amounts to nearly 1 election official for every 70 electors . Chief Election Commissioner Shri Gyanesh Kumar while announcing the schedule of the elections had stated that the officials have been directed to act with complete impartiality to ensure that the elections are violence-free and inducement-free so that each elector votes without fear or favour The personnel deployed include nearly 15 lakh Polling Personnel , 8.5 lakh Security Personnel , 40 thousand Counting Personnel, 49 thousand Micro Observers, 21 thousand Sector Officers, 15 thousand Micro-observers for counting amongst other officials. The field-level election machinery, including over 2.18 lakh BLOs are available for the voters on a phone call and through the Book-a-call to BLO facility on the ECINet App. Call centre number +91 (STD Code) 1950 is also available for registering any complaint/query at the DEO/RO level . All the personnel deployed shall be deemed to be on deputation to the Election Commission as per the provisions of Section 28A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. 1,111 Central Observers have been deployed across the 832 Assembly Constituencies to function as the eyes and ears of the Commission during the general elections and the bye-elections. These include 557 General Observers, 188 Police Observers and 366 Expenditure Observers . Most of the Central Observers deployed have already reached their respective assigned ACs. The Observers will share their contact details and meet the candidates, political parties or their representatives or any member of the public to hear their election-related grievances at a specified time everyday . ********** PK/GDH/RP (Release ID: 2241667) Visitor Counter : 1439 Read this release in: Telugu , Malayalam , Assamese , Bengali , Gujarati , Urdu , हिन्दी , Tamil Election Commission ECI deploys over 25 lakh Officials for violence-free, inducement-free elections in 5 States/UTs Posted On: 18 MAR 2026 2:39PM by PIB Delhi The Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the schedule for the General Election to Legislative Assembly of Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal and bye-elections in 6 States on March 15, 2026 . To ensure the smooth and orderly progress of the various phases of elections in the 5 States/UTs, over 25 lakh election officials have been deployed. The total electors eligible to vote in these elections are over 17.4 crores. This amounts to nearly 1 election official for every 70 electors . Chief Election Commissioner Shri Gyanesh Kumar while announcing the schedule of the elections had stated that the officials have been directed to act with complete impartiality to ensure that the elections are violence-free and inducement-free so that each elector votes without fear or favour The personnel deployed include nearly 15 lakh Polling Personnel , 8.5 lakh Security Personnel , 40 thousand Counting Personnel, 49 thousand Micro Observers, 21 thousand Sector Officers, 15 thousand Micro-observers for counting amongst other officials. The field-level election machinery, including over 2.18 lakh BLOs are available for the voters on a phone call and through the Book-a-call to BLO facility on the ECINet App. Call centre number +91 (STD Code) 1950 is also available for registering any complaint/query at the DEO/RO level . All the personnel deployed shall be deemed to be on deputation to the Election Commission as per the provisions of Section 28A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. 1,111 Central Observers have been deployed across the 832 Assembly Constituencies to function as the eyes and ears of the Commission during the general elections and the bye-elections. These include 557 General Observers, 188 Police Observers and 366 Expenditure Observers . Most of the Central Observers deployed have already reached their respective assigned ACs. The Observers will share their contact details and meet the candidates, political parties or their representatives or any member of the public to hear their election-related grievances at a specified time everyday . ********** PK/GDH/RP (Release ID: 2241667) The Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the schedule for the General Election to Legislative Assembly of Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal and bye-elections in 6 States on March 15, 2026.</li> <li style="text-align:justify">To ensure the smooth and orderly progress of the various phases of elections in the 5 States/UTs, over 25 lakh election officials have been deployed. The total electors eligible to vote in these elections are over 17.4 crores. This amounts to nearly 1 election official for every 70 electors.</li> <li style="text-align:justify">Chief Election Commissioner Shri Gyanesh Kumar while announcing the schedule of the elections had stated that the officials have been directed to act with complete impartiality to ensure that the elections are violence-free and inducement-free so that each elector votes without fear or favour</li> <li style="text-align:justify">The personnel deployed include nearly 15 lakh Polling Personnel, 8.5 lakh Security Personnel, 40 thousand Counting Personnel, 49 thousand Micro Observers, 21 thousand Sector Officers, 15 thousand Micro-observers for counting amongst other officials.</li> <li style="text-align:justify">The field-level election machinery, including over 2.18 lakh BLOs are available for the voters on a phone call and through the Book-a-call to BLO facility on the ECINet App. Call centre number +91 (STD Code) 1950 is also available for registering any complaint/query at the DEO/RO level.</li> <li style="text-align:justify">All the personnel deployed shall be deemed to be on deputation to the Election Commission as per the provisions of Section 28A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.</li> <li style="text-align:justify">1,111 Central Observers have been deployed across the 832 Assembly Constituencies to function as the eyes and ears of the Commission during the general elections and the bye-elections. These include 557 General Observers, 188 Police Observers and 366 Expenditure Observers. Most of the Central Observers deployed have already reached their respective assigned ACs.</li> <li style="text-align:justify">The Observers will share their contact details and meet the candidates, political parties or their representatives or any member of the public to hear their election-related grievances at a specified time everyday.</li> ********** PK/GDH/RP " /> var mPlayer = document.getElementById("background_music"); var mPlayAction = document.getElementById("playbutton"); var isPlaying = false; function playAudio() { mPlayer.play(); isPlaying = true; document.getElementById('stopA').style.display = "block"; document.getElementById('playA').style.display = "none"; } function pauseAudio() { mPlayer.pause(); isPlaying = false; document.getElementById('playA').style.display = "block"; document.getElementById('stopA').style.display = "none"; } //function HandleAudio() { // if (isPlaying == true) { // //Playing already Pause it // pauseAudio(); // } else { // //Play the music // playAudio(); 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height: auto !important; } p img { max-width: 90% !important; height: auto !important; } h2 { font-size: 20px !important; font-weight: 600 !important; } h3 { font-size: 18px !important; font-weight: 600 !important; } } /* === Film Roll Badge Styling(IFFI2025 countdown) === */ .film-roll-badge { position: absolute; top:82%; right: 20px; width: 230px; height: 70px; background: repeating-linear-gradient( to right, #9a2375 0px, #9a2375 18px, #6e2b8b 18px, #6e2b8b 36px ); border-top: 8px solid #9a2375; border-bottom: 8px solid #9a2375; border-radius: 8px; overflow: hidden; box-shadow: 0 4px 12px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.4); animation: moveFilm 8s linear infinite; z-index: 10; } /* film sprocket holes */ .film-roll-badge::before, .film-roll-badge::after { content: ""; position: absolute; width: 100%; height: 10px; background: repeating-linear-gradient( to right, #9a2375 0px, #9a2375 10px, #fff 10px, #fff 20px ); left: 0; z-index: 2; } .film-roll-badge::before { top: -4px; } .film-roll-badge::after { bottom: -4px; } .film-roll-inner { position: relative; height: 100%; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center; animation: flicker 2s infinite ease-in-out; } .countdown-text { font-size: 1.3rem; font-weight: 700; color: #fff; text-shadow: 0 0 6px rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.4), 0 0 10px #000; white-space: nowrap; } /* === Animations === */ @keyframes moveFilm { 0% { background-position: 0 0; } 100% { background-position: 120px 0; } } @keyframes flicker { 0%, 100% { opacity: 1; } 50% { opacity: 0.9; } 25% { opacity: 0.95; } 75% { opacity: 0.85; } } /* === Responsive Adjustments === */ @media (max-width: 1500px) { .film-roll-badge { top: 68%; right: 18px; /* width: 220px; */ height: 65px; font-size: 0.85rem; } .press-section { margin-top: 35px; } } @media (max-width: 992px) { .film-roll-badge { top: 52%; right: 10px; width: 200px; height: 60px; } } @media (max-width: 768px) { .film-roll-badge { top: 56%; right: 10px; width: 124px; height: 55px; } .countdown-text { font-size: 0.9rem; } } @media (max-width: 576px) { .film-roll-badge { top: 59%; right: 5px; /* width: 160px; */ height: 50px; } .countdown-text { font-size: 0.85rem; } } const festivalStart = new Date("2025-11-20T00:00:00").getTime(); const festivalEnd = new Date("2025-11-28T23:59:59").getTime(); const countdownElement = document.getElementById("countdown"); const interval = setInterval(() => { const now = new Date().getTime(); // BEFORE FESTIVAL — show days + hours left if (now = festivalStart && now el.style.width = "350px"); clearInterval(interval); } }, 1000); //

Original PIB release
pib.gov.in · PRID 2241667

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ECI deploys over 25 lakh Officials for violence-free, inducement-free elections in 5 States/UTs

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