A total of 9,706 contestants will be in the fray for the rural local body elections in the district, according to a press statement from the district administration here on Thursday.
Originally, 12,372 nominations were received. However, 1,895 applications were rejected during the scrutiny on December 17 and 18.
A total of 771 nominations were withdrawn by candidates as well. All candidates were allocated symbols at 3 p.m. The 13 panchayat union offices in the district were full of candidates who began the process of soft-campaigning the same day.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) Chellampatti union secretary V. P. Murugan, said that the contestants could begin aggressive campaigning only with a symbol, promising basic amenities such as better road, water and bus facilities.
A separate communication from the district administration said polling personnel must submit their documents, including a photocopy of their voter identity card and their employment order, on December 21 when the second phase of training will be held for them.
“This needs to be done in order to procure their election duty certificate which will in turn permit them to cast postal votes, the statement said.
