India, Dec. 31 -- The State Election Commission (SEC) has appointed additional chief secretary (home) Iqbal Singh Chahal as observer for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) election on January 15. An Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer of the 1989 batch, Chahal was BMC commissioner for nearly four years, starting May 2020. Since the BMC poll is likely to be very closely contested, three additional collectors have been appointed additional observers, the SEC order said.

The SEC has also appointed IAS officers as observers for the remaining 28 poll-bound municipal corporations. In Thane, Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) chief executive officer P Velarasu, who had served as Thane collector, has been ap...