BENGALURU: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Saturday announced the by-elections date to fill the casual vacancies in the Lok Sabha from Parliamentary Constituencies and Legislative Assemblies of Karnataka. Briefing the media about the steps taken to ensure free and fair elections in Karnataka, Sanjiv Kumar, Chief Electoral Officer-Karnataka, said that the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) has come into effect immediately and instructions have been issued to all the Deputy Commissioners to put in place the FST/SST/Mobile Squads, help desks and all enforcement activities.
One more level training will be organised for the personnel being involved in the by-elections at all levels to ensure free and fair poll, he said. The by-elections will be held for two assembly constituencies. The first is Ramanagara, which fell vacant after HD Kumaraswamy from JD(S) resigned to retain another assembly seat from Channapatna. The second vacant constituency is Jamkhandi, which fell vacant after the demise of Congress MLA Siddu Nyamagouda.
The by-elections will also be held to three parliamentary constituencies, as the members of these constituencies had resigned to contest the recently held assembly elections. The three constituencies are Ballari, Shivamogga and Mandya. These constituencies fell vacant after the resignation of Sriramulu, B S Yeddyurappa, both from BJP and C S Puttaraju of JD(S), to contest the assembly elections.
Ministers can’t call poll staff for meets
Sanjiv Kumar said that no election related officer can be called for meeting by any minister, except on issues like calamity/flood/drinking water etc. Not only this, the ministers/politicians cannot combine their official visit with their election related visits, he said.
‘Enroll before October 9’
The voters of these constituencies are asked to check their names and to ensure that their names are at only one place. If their names are missing or if certain corrections are to be incorporated, they are asked to approach electoral officers concerned. Voters are also told to give their applications before October 9.