Panchayat polls on July 8 in single phase, counting of votes on July 11
Kolkata: The State Election Commissioner (SEC) Rajiva Sinha has announced that the Panchayat polls in the state will be held on July 8, in a single phase, the counting will be held on July 11, while the Model Code of Conduct (MMC) has come into effect from Thursday.
Addressing a Press conference, Sinha announced that the public notice inviting nominations for election by the district Panchayat election officer will be made on July 9. The last date for filing nomination is June 15 while the date for scrutiny of nominations is June 17. The last date for withdrawal of candidature is June 20. The hours of polling will be from 7 am to 5 pm while nominations will be taken from June 9 to June 15 from 11 am to 3 pm except on Sundays and holidays.
Sinha announced that the MCC is effective from June 8. It will apply to areas under elections. While MCC is in force, there shall be no declaration or starting of new schemes in such areas. No government vehicles shall be used by a minister or minister-ranked officials for the campaign or for any similar purposes. No minister or minister-ranked officials can use pilot cars with beacon lights unless there is a security threat assessed by the appropriate police authorities. Further, no rallies, meetings etc can be held from 10 pm to 8 am. The silence period will start 48 hours before the time fixed for the end of the poll. Further, an Election Grievance Management System (EGMS), a portal-based system with a link at the website of the Commission, through which a complainant can lodge complaints and check the status of disposal of the same has been made functional.
As for electoral rolls, he said that the commission has already adopted ECI Roll updated upto January 1, 2023. It was clarified that ballot papers and ballot boxes will be used for the elections. Relating to the identification of voters, the Electoral Photo Identity card (EPIC) issued by the Election Commission of India shall be the main document for the identification of a voter.
However, to ensure that no voter is deprived of his/her franchise, if his/her name figures in the electoral roll, the Commission will allow other photo identity documents for use at the time of polls. Some of these are Aadhaar card, PAN card, MGNREGA job card, passbook with photograph (bank/Post office) etc.
In terms of security arrangements, Sinha said that it is too early to comment. Asked if Central forces will be deployed for elections, he did not make any direct comment but said that it is the state’s police force which is generally deployed. A total of 22 districts in the state are going for the polls. Total number of electors is 56721234. The total number of Gram Panchayats (GP) is 3,317. Total number of Panchayat Samitis (PS) is 341. The total number of constituencies and seats in GPs are 58,513 and 63,229 respectively. The total number of constituencies in PS is 9,730 and in Zilla Parishad is 928. The total number of main and auxiliary polling stations is 61,636.
