New Delhi: The Election Commission of India’s recent deployment of Central Observers for the Bihar Assembly elections has triggered a political storm, with the Congress, other opposition parties and neutral watchers questioning what they describe as a “disproportionate presence” of Gujarat-cadre officers among those assigned to oversee the polls.

In its press note dated 28 September 2025, the ECI announced that 470 officers — including 320 from the IAS, 60 from the IPS, and 90 from IRS/IRAS/ICAS — would serve as General, Police, and Expenditure Observers for the Bihar elections and a series of byelections across other states.

Reports indicate that atleast ten IAS officers from the Gujarat cadre have been deputed to Bihar, among them Rajkumar Beniwal, Alok Kumar Pandey, and Dr. Dhaval Pat

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