From 6 pm on Tuesday, Section 144 of the Criminal Procedures Code will be in force, which will mean that people are not allowed to assemble in groups of more than five. There will also be no processions or chanting of slogans. The orders will be in force until the end of the elections, District Election Officer S.B. Deepak Kumar said.
While the parties will not be allowed to conduct rallies, door to door campaigning is permissible. So far, there have been 39 cases against various parties and individuals for inducement of voters and a total of 170 cases for violation of Model Code of Conduct. A total of Rs. 20 lakh in cash has been seized and Rs. 52 lakh worth of other materials like saris and rice. In terms of liquor, a total of Rs. 2 lakh has been seized, he said.
Three government employees have been suspended for actively participating in political parties’ campaigns. Speaking of the election arrangements, he said, 73 presiding officers have been sent to Mahe and Yanam to oversee the elections and 4000 Puducherry police officers and 3325 government employees will be used on the day.
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Only the candidate and one election agent will be allowed in and out of all polling stations, and for the political parties, in each assembly segment only one vehicle will be allowed, and they will be allowed to enter only one polling booth, he said.
Voters who have not yet received their photo voter slips collect it from the Assistant Returning Officers in their area.
According to a release from the Chief Electoral Officer, live webcasting will be available from all polling stations. Live transmission of poll proceedings from all 905 booths will be available to the public at www.ceopondicherry.nic.in from 7am on April 24.
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The viewer will need to use their email ID and mobile number to watch the proceedings and each viewer will be allowed to watch the video for 10 minutes at a time, the release said.