GP elections to commence on May 12

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, April 19: The Gram Panchayath elections for 200 of the 203 Gram Panchayaths of DK will be held during the second phase of the state-wide elections on May 12. The other three Gram Panchayaths are Pudu in Bantwal and Venoor and Arambody in Belthangady, which have not yet completed their term and therefore do not require elections.
 









V Ponnuraj, the deputy commissioner of DK, informed media persons during a press conference held at the District Court Hall on April 19, Monday that elections will be held for 200 Gram Panchayaths in the district. He said that the five taluks comprise 8,96,719 voters, of whom 4,51,113 are women and 4,45,606 are men. 

He said that there are 3,308 Gram Panchayath seats, out of which 1,434 seats are reserved for women. The election process will be held in 1115 booths and will be supervised by a number of election officers and assistant election officers. Of the total number of booths, 181 are hypersensitive and 336 are sensitive. The DC assured that adequate security will be provided at all the booths. 

The notification for elections in all the five taluks will be issued on April 21, he said. Candidates are required to file their nominations in their respective Gram Panchayath offices. The contestants should be above 21 years of age and their names must appear in the respective Gram Panchayath’s voter’s list. April 28 is the last date to file nominations and the list will be scrutinized on the next day. May 3 is the last date to withdraw nominations. Candidates belonging to the general category must deposit Rs 200, and those belonging to SC/ST and women’s category must pay Rs 100. The counting will commence on May 17.

The DC said that the district administration will issue photo identification cards to voters; and all voters are required to produce the same while casting their votes. He also said that voters can use any of the 21 documents approved by the Election Commission to cast their votes. 

The Superintendent-in-charge R Ramesh said that peace and security will be maintained, especially in Naxal-infested areas. The Anti Naxal Force (ANF) and the district police will do everything in their power to prevent Naxals from disrupting the peaceful election procedure.