CHENNAI: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has deputed 327 observers – 136 general observers, 40 police observers and 151 expenditure observers – in view of the Assembly election in Tamil Nadu. The observers will assume charge on Wednesday.
The commission has also appointed Central observers to assist it in ensuring free and fair elections.
The state government has separately constituted a Screening Committee to examine proposal for any types of works to be taken up by government departments on an urgent basis, which may otherwise be not possible when the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) is in force.
The committee, headed by the chief secretary, will scrutinise all such proposals before they are forwarded to the ECI through the chief electoral officer (CEO) for approval. The committee will ensure compliance with ECI guidelines and a uniform decision-making process.
Meanwhile, CEO Archana Patnaik, in a statement, said a candidate contesting in the Assembly election is permitted to incur election-related expenditure of up to `40 lakh. The 234 Assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu have been equipped with dedicated surveillance teams, including flying squads and static surveillance teams. As many as 25 Election Expenditure
Monitoring Agencies, such as the income tax and customs departments, are engaged in surveillance.
At present, a total of 2,160 flying squads and 2,160 static surveillance teams (each constituency has been allotted nine flying squads and nine static surveillance teams) are engaged in intensive monitoring across the state. Further, District Election Control Rooms have been established in all districts for receiving complaints from the public and taking prompt action.
Further, the CEO said about 1.68 lakh defacements have been cleared till March 17, with an FIR registered in 61 of them. While statues of deceased leaders need not be covered, photographs of politically active leaders displayed in public places or government buildings must be covered immediately, she added.
The CEO also clarified that if any individual is found carrying cash and produces valid documents or a satisfactory explanation regarding its source and purpose, the money will not be seized.
“Any grievance against such decisions may be appealed before the District Grievance Committee,” she added.
500 silver containers with TVK stickers among Rs 23-cr worth seizures made in TN
Namakkal/Chennai: Flying squads and ECI officials have so far seized `23.28 crore in cash and goods across the state, and the cases are under investigation. In Namakkal, flying squad officials seized over 500 silver containers which had stickers with photographs of actor-politician Vijay and TVK’s general secretary (policy & propaganda) KG Arunraj from a residential area in Tiruchengode. Acting on a tip-off, a team of revenue officials conducted a search at an apartment complex in Varagurampatti. During the inspection, the items were found stored in an unallotted house. Arunraj is also a prospective candidate for the Tiruchengode constituency. The materials were seized with police assistance. Based on further inputs, officials also carried out searches in nearby houses to check for similar items.
