The preparations for the election to the local bodies in Ernakulam began on an earnest note after a series of activities were reported across the district on Wednesday.
No one filed nomination on the first day of filing of nominations in the race for the Ernakulam district panchayat. Candidates were given time from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Wednesday to file the papers. Nominations for the district panchayat have to be submitted before the District Collector or Additional District Magistrate holding charge of the Collector.
A monitoring committee headed by Additional District Magistrate P. Padmakumar started functioning from Wednesday to check the violations, if any, of the code of conduct for the local body elections.
A district-level committee will also be in place to record the public statements made by the candidates and to monitor the publication of election posters and pamphlets.
Political parties have to strictly abide by the provisions under clause 124 of the Kerala Panchayati Raj Act and clause 148 of the Municipality Act while publishing their election promises. Printing centres should also go by the rules prescribed under these Acts. The names of the printer and publisher should be mentioned in the pamphlets and the election posters.
The Election Commission has issued orders to rope in government and private vehicles for election duty. The Transport Officers in each zone should hand over the vehicles to block development officers concerned. Care should be made to ensure that all vehicles have valid insurance policy.
S. Shanavas, Deputy Collector (Election), said that candidates have to submit the schedule prepared by the State Election Commission along with their nomination papers. The schedule prepared by the Central Election Commission will not be considered.
Officials said that arrangements for the three-tier polls, including distribution of polling materials and counting will be held at the block level. Each block panchayat will function as a main centre for the nearby grama panchayats. The secretary of the block panchayat concerned should ensure basic facilities at these centres.
The temporary election booths set up by political parties should be set up 200 metres away from the polling stations in panchayats. In municipalities, it should be set up 100 metres away from the polling stations. Only two persons should be seated in an election booth.
