The Hindu : Delhi, three other States go to the polls on Dec. 1

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Oct 07, 2003

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Delhi, three other States go to the polls on Dec. 1

By J. Venkatesan

The Chief Election Commissioner, J.M. Lyngdoh, and the Election Commissioner, T.S. Krishnamurthy (left), at a press conference to announce the dates for the Assembly elections, in New Delhi on Monday. — Photo: V. Sudershan

New Delhi Oct. 6. The Election Commission today announced that the Mizoram Assembly elections would be held on November 20 while Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh would go to the polls on December 1.

The Election Commission today announced that the Mizoram Assembly elections would be held on November 20 while Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh would go to the polls on December 1.

The Chief Election Commissioner, J.M. Lyngdoh, and the Election Commissioners, T.S. Krishnamurthy and B.B. Tandon, told reporters that the poll notification for Mizoram would be issued on October 27 and for the other States on November 7.

While the counting of votes in Mizoram will be taken up on December 2, in the other States it is slated for December 4. Since electronic voting machines are to be used in all the polling booths, the results are likely to be announced within a few hours of the starting of counting.

Mr. Lyngdoh said the model code of conduct came into effect today and would be applicable to all the political parties and to the State and Union Governments.

The Commission had brought into effect the Supreme Court directive on the affidavits to be filed by all candidates along with their nomination papers.

He said the affidavit was mandatory and should contain information on criminal antecedents, movable and immovable properties of the candidate and his/her spouse and dependents, and the liabilities and educational qualifications of the candidate. To disseminate the above information, instructions had been issued to the Returning Officers to make available copies of the affidavits to the media, the public and the other candidates on the same day of the filing of the nominations.

The District Election Officers had been instructed to compile the information contained in the affidavits of candidates for the Assembly segments in their districts and make them available to anyone desirous of obtaining them on payment of copying charges.

Asked what action would be taken if any affidavit contained wrong information, Mr. Lyngdoh said the filing of an election petition before the High Court was the only remedy as the Supreme Court did not vest powers in the Returning Officers to take action against the erring candidates.

Another significant aspect was that personnel of the armed forces had been given the option of voting either through proxy or through postal ballots.

Mr. Lyngdoh said that as the use of polling personnel from outside the district had proved effective in Gujarat and Jammu and Kashmir, the same method would be followed for the elections to the four States.

In Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, 50 per cent of the Presiding Officers and the Polling Officers would be from outside the district. In Delhi, the Presiding Officers would be drawn from among Central Government officials.

He said the Centre had assured the Election Commission that adequate forces would be made available for ensuring free and fair polls.

The Commission had taken a serious note of the lapses pointed out by political parties in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, and had taken prompt action to rectify and correct the discrepancies.

In Delhi, teams had been deputed to various Assembly constituencies for scrutiny of the rolls, Mr. Lyngdoh said, adding, "Political parties have been sleeping in Delhi" as they had not brought to the Commission's notice any serious lapse. However, steps had been taken to correct the rolls after following the due procedure.

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