Any IAS or IPS officer from or coming to Gujarat on duty as an observer in the Lok Sabha elections will be dismissed from duty if they engage in publicity stunts in social media, warned the Election Commission of India (ECI).

As many as 35 IAS and IPS officers from Gujarat are going to serve in other states and officials from other states will be coming to Gujarat as election observers, and the ECI has instructed the officers to not commit such mistakes.

An order was also passed about the same in the recent meetings of the ECI to the election officers. 

In 2022, when the assembly elections were held in Gujarat, Abhishek Singh, an IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, working as an observer in Asarwa and Bapunagar in Ahmedabad, shared a photo on his social media handle with a caption, “I have been assigned the work of an observer in Asarwa and Bapunagar constituencies.”

The photos of the vehicle allotted to him in this post went viral. This activity was termed as a publicity stunt by the Election Commission of India and he was immediately released from election operations.

His whereabouts were unknown after this incident, and he was suspended by the Uttar Pradesh government as well.

This time around, with Lok Sabha Elections 2024, the same action will be taken against any official violating the order, the EC warns.

Also read:

IAS officer Abhishek Singh resigns, was suspended in Feb 2023

Election commission appoints AK Rakesh as Gujarat’s new home secretary