The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Assembly polls will cost Rs. 50 crore

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Nov 29, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Assembly polls will cost Rs. 50 crore

T.S. Ranganna

They are likely in last week of April or in May

Expenditure for Assembly, Lok Sabha polls in 2004 was Rs. 40.75 crore
More than three lakh personnel will be required for conducting elections

Bangalore: The holding of fresh elections to the Legislative Assembly will cost the exchequer Rs. 50 crore.

The polls are likely to be held during the last week of April or first week of May next year.

According to sources in the government, the total expenditure for holding elections to the Assembly and Lok Sabha in April 2004 came to Rs. 40.75 crore. Due to escalation in the cost of raw material and other services, it may go up to Rs. 50 crore.

Remuneration for at least five officers in each of the 40,000 polling stations through out the State, printing and stationery expenses, installing batteries for about 44,000 electronic voting machines and arrangements such as providing electricity to the polling stations in remote areas and counting centres have to be borne by the exchequer. More than three lakh personnel will be required for conducting elections, apart from police officers. For the byelections to the Chamundeshwari Assembly constituency, which witnessed a an all-out campaign by all parties, Rs. 25 lakh was spent, the sources said.

With the relations between the Bharatiya Janata Party and Janata Dal (S) strained, many constituencies will witness vigorous campaigning, calling for more videographers.

Meanwhile, sources in the office of the Chief Electoral Officer said that fresh electoral lists would be out on January 1, 2008. There were 4,28,31,482 voters as on January 1, 2007, and the number may increase by three per cent by January next.

They would be continuously updated and the names of eligible persons added to the lists, if necessary. There were 3,85,86,418 voters in the 2004 elections.

The eligible persons could apply for adding their names in the voters’ list with the tahsildars in rural areas and assistant revenue officers of the BBMP, who are also called assistant electoral registration officers.

The sources said that there was no difficulty in holding elections in the last week of April or first week of May. The pre-university examinations would be over by March-end and that of the SSLC by April 6, and teachers and buildings would be available for election work. There would also be no rain.

More than a dozen MLAs would have another chance to contest from their respective constituencies, as the delimitation would come into effect only in 2009.

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