Political parties would have to bear the cost of publication in print and electronic media regarding the criminal antecedents of their candidates while a final decision is yet to be taken by Election Commission of India at an individual level. This issue had also been raised during a meeting with political parties also said Chhattisgarh's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Subrat Sahoo on Monday.
Addressing a press conference here , he said that October 23 is the last date of filing nomination papers in 18 state assembly constituencies of first phase polling. The scrutiny of nomination papers will be done on October 24 and candidates can withdraw the nomination papers on October 26. The polling would be held on November 12.
Sahoo dwelt on details of filing of nomination papers and precautions to be taken by the candidates.
He said that the security deposit of candidate from Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe is Rs 5000 while that of General Candidate is Rs 10000 which can be deposited in cash before Returning Officer or submit it through Bank Challan.
The Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe candidate should possess a valid caste certificate. One candidate can file maximum of four nomination papers and can contest election from two assembly constituencies, Sahoo said.
If the candidate files nomination papers without the original Format- B/Form B issued by the party he or she is representing, then his or her nomination paper is likely to be rejected, he said.
The CEO said that for Chhattisgarh Assembly polls, a total of 2468 sector magistrates, 2468 sector, 318 flying squad and 374 static surveillance teams have been constituted.
On the number of seizures made so far, he said that total seizure of materials stood at Rs 3.50 crore which includes cash of Rs 1.50 crore by police and Rs 46.50 lakh by Income Tax Department, flying squads/SST/Police including Excise department have seized 35499.79 litres of liquor worth Rs 35.15 lakh, other items, freebies seizure (laptop, vehicles, cooker, sarees) worth Rs 1.18 crore.
On poll-related complaints received, Sahoo said that total complaints were 135 out of which 121 are pending for redressal, transfer related complaints total 1036 out of which 39 have been resolved while 997 are pending.
He added that most of these complaints are irrelevant and does not fall under Model Code of Conduct. The complaints received on NGS portal is 1546 out of which 1414 has been resolved while 132 are pending for redressal.
Sahoo added that since yesterday the cVIGIL App has become operational and a total of 130 complaints have been registered out of which 114 have been resolved.
