Polling extended by 2 hours in Madurai

.Addressing newspersons in Chennai, he said, “The Election Commission of India has accepted to grant two hours additional polling time for Madurai, which will be from 7 am to 8 pm. The matter is also pending before the Madras High Court.”

After chairing a review meeting with the District Election Officers (DEO) and top police officials at the Secretariat, the CEO said that expenditure observers would visit the State ahead of the filing of nominations.

“One expenditure observer and a general observer will be deputed in each Lok Sabha seat. Guidelines have been framed for the leaders using helicopters and the permissions in this regard will issued when applied,” he said, adding that instructions have been given to the Labour department to ensure that all employees are granted a leave withpay on April 18.

“The DEOs and SPs have been directed to coordinate with the observers, while officials on poll duty have been instructed to ensure strict implementation of the code. An estimated Rs 6.77 crore has been seized across the state till date. Income Tax department officials are also in constant touch with the election department,” Sahoo said.

More than 8 lakh applications seeking inclusion of names in voter rolls have been received, of which around 6 lakh have been disposed of so far. As many as 17,020 firearms holders have appeared before the authorities, who have cancelled 25 licences. Non-bailable warrants were also being issued. More than 2100 preventive arrests have been made under CRPC, Sahoo added.

“There is a requirement of 67,000 police personnel and another 44,000 non-uniform staff for the elections. The mobilisation of staff and training is under way,” the CEO said.

The DEOs have also been instructed to investigate issues that take place in polling booths located next to schools and strengthen the security for sensitive and vulnerable booths.