Deputy Commissioner Hephsiba Rani Korlapati said on Monday that all arrangements were being made for the smooth conduct of elections for the Udupi-Chikkamagaluru parliamentary constituency. Addressing presspersons here on Monday, Ms. Korlapati said that the notification for the polls would be issued on March 19. The last date for filing of nomination papers was March 26. Scrutiny of nomination papers would be on March 27. The last date for withdrawal of nomination papers was March 29. The polls will be held on April 18. The counting of votes will be held on May 23.
The Udupi-Chikkamgaluru constituency comprised eight Assembly segments — four each in Udupi and Chikkamagaluru districts. The four segments in Udupi district are Kundapur, Udupi, Kaup and Karkala, while the four in Chikkamagaluru district are Sringeri, Mudigere, Chikkamagaluru and Tarikere.
The total number of voters in Udupi-Chikkamagaluru constituency as on January 16, 2019, was 14,94,443 which included 7,64,105 women, 7,30,288 men and 50 others. There is an increase of 1,43,198 voters, when compared to the 2014 parliamentary elections when the total number of voters was 13,51,245, including 6,89,833 women, 6,61,364 men and 48 others.
There would be 1,837 polling booths in the entire constituency this time. Basic facilities will be provided at all these booths in Udupi district. The Chikkamagaluru Deputy Commissioner would supervise the booths in that district.
The electoral rolls and list of booths had been provided to all recognised political parties. The Model Code of Conduct announced by the Election Commission would be strictly enforced. Deputy Conservator, Social Forestry, Bhaskar B., had been appointed as nodal officer for enforcement of Model Code of Conduct in the district.
After the announcement of polls, teams had started removing publicity material. People should remove any banners or flags of political parties in front of their homes, she said.
No one could carry cash more than ₹ 50,000 without proper documents. Permission should be compulsorily sought for holding election meetings and using loudspeakers. Loudspeakers could be used only from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Every candidate could spend up to ₹ 70 lakh as election expenses. The Expenditure Monitoring Cell and Assistant Expenditure Observer would monitor the expenditure.
People could register complaint regarding poll code violations on the mobile app, C-VIGIL, developed by the Election Commission. There was provision to enrol names in electoral rolls till March 26. All messages on social media with regard to polls would be monitored, Ms. Korlapati said.
Additional Deputy Commissioner Vidya Kumari, CEO of Zilla Panchayat Sindhu Rupesh and Superintendent of Police Nisha James was present.
