NEW DELHI, FEB 19: Intent on keeping a firm grip on the law and order situation in Bihar where the second round of Assembly polls were conducted on Friday, the Election Commission ordered the immediate removal of the District Magistrate of Nawada district for dereliction of duty.The Chief Election Commissioner, M S Gill, said that instructions had been given to the Chief Electoral Commissioner of Bihar to shift the District Magistrate for his failure to control the law and order situation and for his inability to effectively supervise the election process in the state.The District Magistrate and the District Election Officer have both been shifted out as they did not perform their job properly, he said.Their failure to control the law and order situation had necessitated a large number of repolls in the district.The District Election Officer is believed to have withdrawn the security cover provided to three election observers, exposing them to a security risk.The Election Commission has also ordered the recall of the election observer for Muzaffarpur, A S Sidhu for dereliction of duty. ``The man had locked himself up in his room and did not attend to his duties,'' the Commissioner said.The Commission would be taking a serious view of his non-performance and would be issuing him a show-cause notice. ``The message has to go down, that an election observer's job is a serious one, which Commissioners, Deputy Commissioners and other civil servants had to take on seriously,'' said M S Gill.Referring to the second phase of the Assembly polls held in Bihar on Friday, the Chief Election Commissioner said there had been a perceptible improvement in the poll atmosphere, with incidents of clashes between political rivals coming down sharply compared to earlier elections.
