12 left in fray for Udupi-Chikkamagaluru Lok Sabha constituency – DC Hephsiba Rani Korlapati
Udupi: A total of twelve candidates have remained in the race for the Udupi-Chikkamagaluru Lok Sabha constituency after the last day of withdrawal of nominations on Friday said deputy commissioner Hephsiba Rani Korlapati.
There are a total of 14,98,016 voters in the district. Out of the total voters in the district, 765823 are women voters and 732193 male voters. 11861 physically challenged and 30826 young voters have also been identified, she said.
Vehicles will be arranged to ferry senior citizens, differently abled and those incapable of walking to the polling booths to help them exercise their franchise. Wheelchairs and magnifying glasses will be kept in each polling booth to ensure hassle-free polling to the differently abled and senior citizens.
A 30 all-women Sakhi polling booth will be set up in every Lok Sabha constituency to encourage more female voters to exercise their franchise. As per the Election Commission’s (EC) directions to set up polling stations entirely managed by women, such booths will be set up in the constituency. To attract the tribal voters three Ethnic Polling Booth will be set up in the constituency. The entrance of these booths will be made like the huts of tribals in the forest areas.
The Election Commission of India has directed that all voters in all constituencies who have been issued the Electors Photo Identity Card (EPIC) have to produce the Electors Photo Identity Card for their identification at the polling station before casting their votes. Those who are not able to produce the EPIC shall produce one of the following alternative photo identity documents for establishing their identity.
The list of eleven documents is: Passport, Driving License, Service Identity Cards with photograph issued to employees by Central/State Govt./PSUs/Public Limited Companies, Passbooks with photograph issued by Bank/Post Office, PAN Card, Smart Card issued by RGI under NPR, MNREGA Job Card, Health Insurance Smart Card issued under the scheme of Ministry of Labour, Pension document with photograph, Official identity cards issued to MPs/MLAs/MLCs, and Aadhaar Card.
The district administration has already instructed gun holders to deposit the weapons with the police ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. A total of 4630 licensed guns are in the possession of people across the district. 3693 arms have been deposited so far. The arms will be returned after the elections,” the DC added.
The Election Commission has appointed three observers for monitoring the violation of model code of conduct and expenditure made by political parties for the Udupi-Chikkamagaluru Lok Sabha Constituency.
The general observers will listen to the grievances of the candidates, representatives of political parties and the general public of the constituency.
The candidates and the public can contact or meet the observers and hand over petitions and complaints on all the working days.
Krishna Kunal IAS (General observer Ph No: 8277013878), Sandeep Prakash Karnik IPS (Police Observer Ph No: 8277013926) and Mallikarjun Utture IRS (expenditure observer Ph No 8277013973).
Flying Squads and Static Surveillance Teams monitoring the enforcement of Model Code of Conduct (MCC) ahead of parliamentary elections have seized cash and gold worth Rs 16.65 lakh in the district so far. While the Election Commission of India has prohibited carrying more than Rs 50,000 cash without adequate documents to show its source and purpose, the public has appealed for more clarity on the documents to be carried. After verification by the committee, Rs 3.25 lakh cash has been released.
The Election Department has received 42 complaints on the “cVIGIL” mobile application, a tool for people to report any violation of the model code of conduct. Out of 42 complaints 32 cases have been disposed and 10 complaints were bogus. The election authorities have seized Rs 15.580 liters of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) worth Rs 1.06 lakh, she said.
When asked about the crowdfunding campaign for election by independent candidate Amrith Shenoy, election general observer Krishna Kunal said that collecting funds publically without the permission of the election observer is a violation of the code of conduct. If anyone is seeking crowdfunding for his poll campaign then he should receive money only through cheques, he said.