New Delhi, Oct 4 (IANS): The Election Commission has appointed former Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officers Madhu Mahajan and B.R. Balakrishnan as Special Expenditure Observers for the October-November Bihar Assembly elections.

Mahajan, a 1982-batch IRS officer, and Balakrishnan, a 1983-batch IRS officer, will, in consultation with the state's Chief Electoral Officer, be supervising and monitoring the work being done by the electoral machinery and ensure that stringent and effective enforcement action is undertaken based on intelligence inputs.

They will also ensure that complaints received through CVIGIL, and voter Helpline 1950 against all persons or entities trying to induce voters by distributing cash, liquor and freebies are dealt with properly.

The two officers have been given the assignment due to their formidable domain expertise and impeccable track record.

Mahajan was the Special Expenditure Observer for Tamil Nadu and Karnataka during the Lok Sabha Election 2019 and for the Maharashtra Assembly Election 2019. Balakrishnan was appointed as Special Expenditure Observer for the bye-election to Telangana's Huzurnagar Assembly Constituency in 2019.

The Bihar election is very crucial as well as being one of the biggest elections to be conducted during the Covid-19 crisis.

The Election Commission last month announced the schedule for the elections to the 243-member Bihar Assembly.

Under the three-phase schedule, polling for 71 Assembly constituencies in 17 districts will be held on October 28, for 97 Assembly constituencies in 16 districts on November 3, and in 78 Assembly constituencies in 15 districts on November 7. The results will be announced on November 10.