Chief Electoral Officer K Ravi Kumar has said that this time more candidates are in the fray than the 2019 assembly elections. The Election Commission has sufficient EVMs for these increased candidates. Apart from this, preparations are complete for clean, fair and free voting. He said that the process of withdrawal of nominations for the first phase of elections has been completed. Scrutiny was done on Wednesday for the second phase. In some districts, candidates have been called on Friday at 11 am to give certain information. After that it will be clear how many candidates' nominations have been found to be correct. He was addressing a press conference at Nirvachan Sadan, Dhurva on Wednesday.
Kumar informed that a total of 22 FIRs have been registered so far for violation of the Model Code of Conduct. The process of action on it is underway. He informed that since the implementation of the Model Code of Conduct in the state, illegal goods and cash worth Rs 121.14 crore have been seized. The maximum seizure has been made by the state police. Among the districts with seizures of more than one crore, Khunti district is at the top with Rs 3.03 crore. While Giridih is second with Rs 2.80 crore and East Singhbhum district is third with Rs 1.97 crore.
Meanwhile, the CEO said that all the recognized political parties should follow the Model Code of Conduct and campaign during the Assembly elections. He said that the guidelines of the Model Code of Conduct should be made known not only to the candidates but also to their workers and their compliance should be ensured. He was holding a meeting with the representatives of recognized political parties in the Election House on Wednesday.
Kumar said that apart from the voter ID card, 12 other identity cards have been identified by the Election Commission of India, by showing which the voters can exercise their franchise if their name is in the voter list. These 12 alternative photo identity cards include Aadhaar card, MNREGA job card, driving license, PAN card, Indian passport, pension documents with photo, photo identity card issued to employees by the Central, State Government, PSU, Public Limited Companies, photo passbook issued by banks, post offices, smart card issued by RGI under the National Population Register, health insurance smart card issued under the scheme of the Ministry of Labor, official identity card issued to MPs, MLAs, MLCs and Unique Disability ID issued to Divyaangjans by the Ministry of Social Justice, Government of India.
While informing all the recognized political parties about this, Mr. Kumar said that they should also spread awareness about it at their level, so that no voter is deprived of his right to vote due to lack of awareness. Cooperation is expected from all political parties in clean, fair and peaceful voting.
In the meeting, Kumar learned about the problems or doubts faced by all the recognized political parties in the assembly elections. After that, following the guidelines of the Election Commission of India, information regarding its resolution was also provided.
On this occasion, Additional Chief Electoral Officer Dr. Neha Arora, OSD Geeta Choubey and representatives of all recognized political parties were present.
