Parties to begin poll work in 2 segments from today

Sources said that the DMK is expected to retain the candidates for the two constituencies who were named during the Assembly elections in May this year. Till the announcement of the candidates, only the officials were on top gear. 

On Tuesday, the Thanjavur collector in his address at an all-party meeting said that 276 booths would be set up for the democratic exercise. Of these 256 would be come up in urban areas and the remaining 20 in rural areas. 

He also said that the elections would be conducted on the basis of the electoral rolls released on February 1, 2016. As per the rolls there are 1,29,913 male voters and 1,38,102 female voters besides 18 third gender voters which adds up to a total of 2,68,033 voters.

Meanwhile, the Collector said that six flying squads, three static teams and three video surveillance teams, would be monitoring the constituency for poll code violations and they were already on the job. 

On Wednesday, special teams inspected vehicles on Thanjavur main road and a few other key locations.

Similarly, in Karur, Collector G Govindaraj said that that were as many as 2,00,085 voters including 1,03,074 women enrolled in the rolls. The constituency comprises of a total of 244 polling booths and an additional polling booth”. As many as six flying squads have been deputed who were involved in inspection work on a rotational basis round-the-clock across the district. 

The district administration has also introduced a toll free help line number 1800 4257 029 for the convenience of people who want to register complaints about election related issues. The Collector asked all the representatives of parties, who attended the meeting, to extend full cooperation till the election process was completed. 

While the officials were working at a hectic pace, the political parties were not enthusiastic as they did not have a clear word from their top brass till Tuesday. The The AIADMK cadre expected a change in the candidature for both Aravakurichi and Thanjavur segments. However, the with the announcement of the candidates on Wednesday, the AIADMK workers have been met by the respective district secretaries and unofficial meetings to devise campaign strategies were also held. 

According to a party insider, a meeting by district secretaries has been planned in which works would be delegated to the specific teams of the party. 

Meanwhile, the DMK cadre have planned to begin door canvassing from Thursday evening even though the party is yet to announce the candidates.

The DMK functionaries said that the party would start its campaign simultaneously with the AIADMK. “We will seek votes for the party and won’t wait for the candidates to be announced for both Thanjavur and Aravakurichi”, said a functionary from Thanjavur.