On Tuesday Election Commission (EC) held a meeting with revenue, Central Board of Direct Taxes, Central Board of Indirect Taxes, and Customs officials as part of efforts to ensure free and fair polls in four states and the Union territory of Puducherry in March and April.

A person familiar with the matter said that a stringent watch is being kept ensuring no misuse of money or other freebies and a level playing field. “All efforts will be made to keep the elections free of any kind of unfair inducements,” the person said.

Also Read: In what he called his last press conference, EC Sunil Arora hailed the continuous support of MHA to the ECI- Eight-phased West Bengal election to begin on March 27

The EC has issued directions for strict action against any financial misconduct in the elections. Around 187 million people in West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry will vote to elect 824 lawmakers from March 27.

The EC will set up 270,000 polling stations for the largest electoral exercise in the country since the Covid-19 pandemic struck early last year.