Behind the show..

The term 'election' conjures up images of political leaders, campaigning and of course the obvious, voting. But elections are more than that. In the Rajasthan state assembly elections a total of around 2,50,000 people are into work of which 25000 are senior level officers.These managers are required to coordinate the activities of various departments for the smooth and fair conduct of polls over 40000 polling booths in the state. Elections not only involve people but also a colossal sum of money. The government is spending money to the tune of Rs.25 crore for making the electoral process smooth and without any hitches.

Election Commission was established in 1959 and has grown considerably in power and organisation since then. There is always several processes going on in the commission to make the electoral methods more robust and meaningful. To implement new Electronic Voting Machine for polling is just one such example.

States' Election Department are also a part of this system. The last time when both Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections were held together was way back in 1967. The Chief Election Officer of the state is the prime officer under whose guidance the elections are conducted. Till now the following CEOs have monitored the elections in Rajasthan.
 
S.No. Year Chief Election Officer
1. 1952 Sh. P.N. Singhal
2. 1957 Sh. Chandrashekhar Gupta
3. 1962 Sh. G.K. Bhanot
4. 1967 Sh. R.K. Saxena
5. 1971 (Lok Sabha By-election) Sh. R.K. Saxena
6. 1972 (Vidhan Sabha By-election) Sh. R.K. Saxena
7. 1977 (Lok Sabha) Sh. Govind ji Mishra
8. 1977 (Vidhan Sabha) Sh. Govind ji Mishra
9. 1980 (Lok Sabha By-election) Sh. H.C. Pande
10. 1981 (Vidhan Sabha By-election) Sh. H.C. Pande
11. 1984 (Lok Sabha) Sh. B.N. Dhodhiyal
12. 1985 (Vidhan Sabha) Sh. B.N. Dhodhiyal
13. 1989 (Lok Sabha) Sh. Govind ji Mishra
14. 1990 (Vidhan Sabha) Sh. Govind ji Mishra
15. 1991 (Lok Sabha) Sh. Govind ji Mishra
16. 1993 (Vidhan Sabha) Sh. H.C. Pande
17. 1996 (Lok Sabha) Sh. Sudhir Varma
18. 1998 (Lok Sabha) Sh. Sudhir Varma
19. 1998 (Vidhan Sabha) Sh. Sudhir Varma
20. 1999 (Forthcoming Lok Sabha) Sh. Surendra Kumar

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