Patna, May 16 : As Bihar gears up for the Assembly elections later this year, Election Commissioner Dr Vivek Joshi is on a four-day official visit to the state, which began on May 15, to review poll preparations.

A high-level review meeting was held in Patna under Dr Joshi's chairmanship on Friday.

The meeting was attended by Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Bihar Vinod Singh Gunjiyal, State Police Nodal Officer Kundan Krishnan, Inspector General of Police (Patna), the District Magistrate and SSP of Patna, Additional Secretary of the Election Department, and other senior officials.

The focus of the meeting was to review election preparedness, ensuring peaceful and fair polling, and strengthening coordination among different arms of the election machinery.

Dr Joshi, who was received in Patna by CEO Vinod Singh Gunjiyal, is overseeing key aspects of the election process, including security arrangements, voter facilitation at polling stations, First Level Checking (FLC) of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), and training programmes for polling officials.

Field visits at the district level are also part of his itinerary.

As part of his tour, Dr Joshi will travel to Motihari (East Champaran) and Bettiah (West Champaran) to inspect EVM FLC processes and interact with District Magistrates, Superintendents of Police, Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), and Booth Level Officers (BLOs). He will also assess the readiness of polling stations and voter service centres.

The Election Commission, in collaboration with the India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management -- its premier training wing -- is conducting division-wise training programmes across Bihar.

These sessions aim to enhance the efficiency of polling staff and ensure that booth-level agents of political parties are well-informed about electoral procedures.

Currently, the FLC of EVMs is underway in 13 districts of Bihar. The Election Commission aims to complete the exercise with full transparency and technical precision.

Dr Joshi's visit underlines the Election Commission of India's commitment to ensuring that the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections are free, fair, inclusive, technologically robust, and devoid of any malpractice or violence.

/IANS