Filing of nominations for candidates seeking to contest Lok Sabha elections from Salem will begin on Saturday.
Addressing reporters here on Friday, District Returning Officer and Collector K. Maharabushanam said that nominations can be filed from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on all working days except March 30 and 31.
The nominations should be filed with Mr. Maharabushanam on the Collectorate premises.
The last date to file nominations is April 5 and scrutiny will be undertaken from April 7 to 9. The final list of candidates will be announced on April 9, he added.
Only five persons will be allowed into the room and only three vehicles will be allowed in the 100 metres distance from the room.
He said that 56,600 have submitted Form 6 for name inclusion in the electoral roll and the supplementary electors’ list would be released on April 9.
A total of 2,983 polling stations and 10 ancillary booths would be established in the district.
As many as 635 booths have been identified as ‘vulnerable’ and ‘critical’ while seven have been identified ‘most sensitive’. The entire proceedings would be monitored through web cameras, live telecast and also videographed, he added.
The Returning Officer said that the complaint cell has so far received 97 complaints through phone, four through emails and seven complaints through SMS.
A total of 20 violations of Model Code of Conduct cases have been registered, he added.
Ms. Shamla Iqbal would be the General Observer while the Expenditure Observers would be D. Sathish for Salem (North, South) and Veerapandi Assembly Constituencies and Bijoy Kumar Malick for Omalur, Edappadi and Salem West.
Superintendent of Police R. Sakthivel and Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) A.G. Babu were present at the meeting.
On election dutyA total of 15,293 personnel would be involved in election duty during the Lok Sabha polls in the district, apart from personnel from police department and the paramilitary forces. This includes, Video Surveillance Team – 22 members, Video Viewing Team -22, Flying Squad Team – 198, Model Code of Conduct team – 88, Accounting team – 44, Static Surveillance Team – 198, MCC Nodal Officer – 11, Media Certification and Monitoring Team – 4, Control Room – 16, Media Cell PRO – 1, Liquor Menace Nodal Officer – 1, Media Centre APRO – 1, Polling Personnel – 14,318, Micro Observers – 92 and Zonal Officers – 277.
TrainingA programme for about 200 police personnel from Salem City, Salem Rural, Namakkal, Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri districts saw experts detailing the role and responsibilities of each police personnel in smooth conduct of election. Convoy arrangements and anti-sabotage checks were discussed.
