Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

SEC forms team of observers

Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The State Election Commission (SEC) has constituted a team of 39 observers to keep a watch on the election expenses of the candidates contesting the civic polls. The observers were drawn from among the officers of the Finance Department and the Local Fund Audit Department, the SEC said in a press release on Tuesday. The maximum amount a candidate contesting from a grama panchayat or municipality ward can spend on his or her campaign is Rs.5,000. It is Rs.10,000 in the case of a candidate contesting from a block panchayat ward and Rs.30,000 for one contesting from a district panchayat ward.

Complaint rejected

The State Election Commission (SEC), on Tuesday, rejected a complaint about the Cabinet decisions of August 31 on the Vizhinjam port project and Kochi metro rail project. The complaint, filed by Kodiyeri Balakrishnan of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and K. Muraleedharan of the Democratic Indira Congress (Karunakaran), had stated that these decisions amounted to flouting the model code of conduct issued by the SEC in connection with the civic polls. The SEC had directed the Chief Secretary to submit a report on the points raised in the complaint after consulting the Chief Minister. The Chief Secretary reported that the Cabinet, at its meeting on August 24, had discussed both these projects and decisions taken on August 31 were but the follow-up actions. In a press release, the SEC said it was satisfied with the Chief Secretary's explanation that the decisions that had occasioned the complaint did not relate to any new projects.

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