Election officials Seize Rs 17.68 lakh worth liquor and Rs 1.5 lakh cash in Udupi Dist – DC Hephsiba Rani Korlapati
Udupi: Hephsiba Rani Korlapati deputy commissioner of Udupi district and also the chief election officer for Udupi-Chikkamagaluru Lok Sabha Constituency on Tuesday, March 19 said that all arrangements are in place for filing nominations for the Lok Sabha elections from Tuesday (March 19). The last date for filing the nominations is March 26, scrutiny will take place on March 27 and the last date for withdrawing nominations is March 29.
Speaking at a press meet here on Tuesday, March 19 at DC the office, DC Korlapati said that nominations would be accepted on ‘first-come-first basis’ between 10:00 am and 3:00 pm at the DC office Manipal. Even though March 23 and 24 are holidays, nominations would not be accepted on those days too.
Along with the nominations, each candidate should file their income tax statement of five years instead of one year. Besides, the candidate should also mention criminal cases, if any, against them and the punishment awarded. The candidate should also give advertisements in three newspapers or television channels on the information about the cases already faced and the pending ones.
After the announcement of the schedule for the Lok Sabha elections, unaccounted cash of Rs 1.5 lakh and Rs 17.68 lakh worth liquor had been seized by the EC squads. Till date, 1971 defacements at public properties, 92 wall writings and 1230 defacements at private properties have been removed across the district.
It is requisite that every candidate pays a security deposit of Rs 25,000 while filing the nomination. Candidates belonging to Scheduled Caste (SC) or Scheduled Tribe (ST) categories, however, only need to pay half this amount, ie, Rs 12,500. Also, the election expenditure per candidate has been capped at Rs 70 lakh.
In order to empower citizens in the Lok Sabha polls, the Election Commission (EC) has introduced cVIGIL app at pan India level whereby citizens can record on his/her mobile any violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) and send it to the election authorities for appropriate action.
cVIGIL is a simple, Android-based-mobile app which is user-friendly and easy to operate. All that one has to do is to simply click a picture or take a video and briefly describe the activity before uploading it on the cVIGIL mobile application. If the complainant desires to remain anonymous he/she has the option to do so.
As per the Election Commission of India guidelines, the candidates contesting in the ensuing general elections of all parties and independents should open a separate bank account to explain the expenditure, how much they have spent for campaigns etc till the date of elections. All the candidates who are contesting should open new accounts individually or a joint account along with the election agent one day before the nominations, she said.
The DC also said that the candidates, their supporters and leaders of political parties have to follow the guidelines of the Election Commission while filing nominations. The model code of conduct came into force from March 10. The cooperation of the public is essential to ensure free and fair elections.
Prohibitory orders around a 100 m radius of the DC office under Section 144 will be in force from March 19 to 26 from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The DC has requested the public to cooperate with the authorities as the movement of the public will be regulated during the filing of nomination papers.
Instructions have been given to the representatives of political parties on the guidelines to be followed while filing the papers. Only three vehicles of the candidate will be allowed within the 100 m radius of the office in accordance with the EC guidelines at the time of filing the nomination papers. Only five persons, including the candidate, will be allowed inside (to the room where the papers will be received), she said.
Additional DC Vidya Kumari and information officer Khadar Shah were also present in the press meet.
