The CEO also issued instructions regarding returning Officers for the Constituencies going for bye-elections and said the instructions would also cover other Officers, viz. Deputy/Assistant Collectors, Sub-Divisional Magistrates, Tahsildars and Block Development Officer located in Assembly Constituency Limits.
Chennai: Gearing up for the conduct of by-elections to fill the 5 vacant seats in the State Assembly, the Chief Electoral Officer Archana Patnaik has written to the District Collectors of Chengalpattu, Tiruchirappalli, Erode, Tiruppur and Tirunelveli District seeking some information, to be provided before June 22, for taking preparatory measures for polls and for implementing the Model Code of Conduct. .
Since vacancies have fallen due to the resignations of elected members – C Joseph Vijay from Tiruchirappalli East, S. Jayakumar from Perundurai, K Maragatham Kumaravel from Madurantakam (SC), P Sathyabama from Dharapuram (SC) and Esakki Subaya from Ambasamudram -tthe Election Commission of India (ECI) has started the process for holding the by-elections.
The ECI would make the announcement for the by-elections within a period of six months from the date of the occurrence of the vacancy, as per the provisions of Section 151-A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 and it was necessary to get ready to commence the electoral process once the ECI came out with the poll schedule, Patnaik said in a statement on Wednesday.
As per the ECI letter dated January 2, 2024, regarding the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), if the constituency was located in the State Capital or Metropolitan Cities or Municipal Corporations, instructions on the MCC would be applicable in the area of the constituency only while in other cases the MCI would be enforced in the entire district covering the constituency, the CEO said.
She also said that officers connected directly with the conduct of by-elections should be shifted out if they had been posted in their home Assembly Constituency limit or had completed three years during the last four years or would be completing 3 years on or before the last day of the sixth month from the date of occurrence of the casual vacancy, she said..
The CEO also issued instructions regarding returning Officers for the Constituencies going for bye-elections and said the instructions would also cover other Officers, viz. Deputy/Assistant Collectors, Sub-Divisional Magistrates, Tahsildars and Block Development Officer located in Assembly Constituency Limits.
As far as officers in the Police Department were concerned, the instructions would be applicable to the Sub-Divisional Head of Police, DSPs, Circle Officers, Inspectors, Sub-Inspectors or equivalent ranks posted in the field within the Assembly Constituency Limit, the CEO said and notified Returning Officers and Assistant Returning Officers for all the five constituencies.-
