THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Election Commission will factor in festivals, examinations and availability of Central forces while drawing up the schedule for the assembly elections. The Malappuram Lok Sabha bypoll, necessitated by the resignation of sitting MP P K Kunhalikutty, will be held simultaneously, Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora told reporters here on Sunday.
Political parties have asked the poll panel to draw up the schedule in April taking into account Easter, Vishu and Ramzan dates, he said. Arora expressed happiness at the CBSE authorities paying heed to the commission’s suggestions while announcing the examination dates.
The CEC said the commission has reviewed the preparedness of the state through a series of consultations with stakeholders, including political parties, top bureaucrats and enforcement agencies under the Central and state governments. Additional security arrangements will be made in Palakkad, Malappuram district and Wayanad, which were identified as sensitive by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
The commission will take various precautions in the wake of Covid-19. Social distancing will be made mandatory and an additional 15,000 polling booths will be set up for practising this. The state will have 40,771 booths this time. Postal ballot will be an optional facility for those aged 80 and above, Covid patients and differently abled.
An extra one hour polling time will be granted and the last hour is for Covid patients and those in quarantine. Polling officers will be considered as frontline workers and hence inoculated and given Covid-19 kits. Strict action will be taken against election officers engaging in malpractice. They will be chargesheeted and suspended within the Model Code of Conduct period. But a lenient approach will be taken against officers committing errors inadvertently.
The media are asked to follow the voluntary code of ethics during the Lok Sabha polls. Provisions of the IT Act and IPC will be used against social media misuse. The presser was attended by Central Election Commissioners Sushil Chandra and Rajiv Kumar, deputy election commissioner Sudeep Jain, Kerala’s chief electoral officer Teeka Ram Meena, ADG Sheyphali B Sharan, secretary A K Pathak and director Pankaj Srivastava
‘Will intervene if campaign leads to law & order issues’
The Election Commission will intervene if the campaign using Sabarimala creates law and order issues, the CEC said. In reply to a question on whether the campaign using Sabarimala was a violation of the Model Code of Conduct, he said, “We don’t have any views on the ethos of Sabarimala. But if anything, any religious place or anywhere... has law and order repercussions, then of course, we will do whatever is required.”