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TN rural body polls: Campaign ends ahead of 1st phase on Dec 27
Rural pockets of Tamil Nadu witnessed a high voltage campaign till the last minute on Wednesday, the last day of canvassing for the polls.
By
migrator
migrator
Chennai
State ministers and MLAs from both the ruling AIADMK and the Opposition DMK had a field day campaigning for the party candidates. Interestingly, no major seizure of cash for votes and liquor were reported by poll officials till Wednesday.
“Campaign for the first phase of local body polls in rural areas came to an end on Wednesday. Poll materials will move to the booths on Thursday and the polling will begin on Friday morning,” a senior government official told DT Next.
Outsiders have already been warned to leave the constituency and the surveillance of static teams had been intensified to prevent poll-related inducements. Ballot papers are ready and sensitive booths are to be covered with CCTV cameras, the official said. The first phase of polling will be on 27 December, followed by the second phase on December 30.
Every voter should cast four votes in rural local bodies and the elections will be held for 91,000 posts, State Election Commission officials said.
“Already 18,570 posts have been filled by electing unopposed candidates and another 2.3 lakh candidates are in the fray to fill the remaining posts. After the counting of votes on January 2, the winners will assume office on January 6,” the official said, adding, that the indirect elections to president posts will be held on 11 January from 7 am to 5 pm.
After a delay of three years and a series of litigations, the Supreme Court directed the State Election Commission to hold the polls before April. For two years (2017 -18) the High Court and the Supreme Court engaged the petitions filed by the DMK and the AIADMK regarding civic polls. The AIADMK government in 2018 said that there was a red alert for TN due to cyclone Gaja and delayed the civic polls.
POLL-READY
- Nominations for the election began on Dec 9
- Final candidates’ list was announced on Dec 19
- Every voter should cast four votes in rural local bodies and the elections will be held for 91,000 posts
Leaders reach out as campaign ends
Political party leaders on Wednesday reached out to the voters and their cadres seeking their support for the upcoming local body elections on December 27 and 30.
Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and AIADMK convenor O Panneerselvam, in a letter to voters, sought their support to ensure that the Amma government continues to improve the basic infrastructure handled by local bodies. The AIADMK leaders urged the public to vote for two leaves symbol and recalled the contributions made by the state local bodies in upgrading civic infrastructure. The AIADMK also urged the voters to support the candidates fielded by BJP, PMK and DMDK that are in alliance with the AIADMK. Leader of the Opposition MK Stalin in a similar appeal urged the public to vote against the government.
Pointing out that there is a strong anti-incumbency wave, he urged the DMK cadre to garner support for the party’s rising sun symbol.
In a letter to cadre, AMMK general secretary TTV Dhinakaran urged the party workers to continue their poll work like honey bees. Keep up the election spirit until the votes are counted, he said in a statement. Several AMMK candidates have been elected unopposed and more victory is on the cards. The party will soon have a conference to celebrate the victory, Dhinakaran said urging the public to support AMMK candidates.
State police force gears up for polling days
As the campaigning for first phase of civic polls came to an end on Wednesday, police in the state is all geared up for the polling on Friday. More than 60,000 police personnel will be deployed across the state to make sure that people exercise their franchise peacefully. For the first phase there will be 60,000 police personnel and another 60,000 cops will be deployed for the second phase of elections scheduled on Monday, December 30, a senior police official said. At every rural polling station, each voter will have to cast four votes to elect their representatives for different levels of governance and steps are being taken to record the proceedings through web cameras. Flying squads, to check the possible malpractice at the polling booths, will be also deployed. To ensure law and order on the two polling days, Tasmac shops will remain closed from Wednesday evening for 24 hours. And the liquor shops will be again closed from Saturday evening to Monday evening. Though there is no election scheduled for Chennai city, many suburban areas will be having civic polls on Friday and Monday. Security arrangements are also made for the counting centres. Counting for the polls conducted in two phases will be held on January 2, Thursday.
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