District Election Officer and Deputy Commissioner of Dakshina Kannada Sasikanth Senthil S. said here on Thursday that the commission will take seriously character assassination of candidates, sending hate messages and using social media to create disharmony in society and will take legal action against such persons.
Addressing the media, he said: “We will go after such persons. We will go to the root of such messages.”
Mr. Senthil said that one should not use social media or any other platform to divide society on the basis of religion.
Replying to questions, the Deputy Commissioner said that if anybody is organising private functions inside halls, the organisers need not obtain permission from the commission. But it is advisable that they inform the commission about it. Such private functions should not be used for any political purpose.
He said that the commission will arrange for one vehicle per each gram panchayat to ferry persons with disabilities to polling booths. If it is an urban local body, a vehicle each per ward will be deployed.
Mr. Senthil said that the commission will talk to some Malekudiya tribals in Banjarumale and Kutluru who have threatened to boycott polling. The commission officials will visit them and examine their demands. The Election Officer said that the commission has removed 10,187 defacements in public places and 708 defacements in private places in the constituency till March 13. The defacements included wall writings, posters and banners.
He said that 73 flying squads, 169 sector officers, 69 static surveillance teams, 25 video surveillance teams have been constituted to manage the election process in the constituency .
He said that eligible voters who have not yet enrolled their names in the voter list can do so till March 16. Those who have completed 18 years on January 1, 2019 can apply for EPIC. One can contact toll free number 1950 for the purpose.
Chief Executive Officer, Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat, Selvamani R., Superintendent of Police, Dakshina Kannada, B.M. Laxmi Prasad, and Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Hanumantaraya were present.
