District Collector cum Election Officer G Poonam Tapas Kumar in a media briefing held here on Monday said election notification of Jagatsinghpur Lok Sabha seat and four Assembly constituencies would be held on April 2 and filing of nomination paper will continue till April 9.
After scrutiny of nomination papers on April 10, candidates have the choice to withdraw nomination papers till April 12. Then the elections would be held on April 29 in the fourth leg of polls and results will be declared on May 23, Tapas Kumar informed.
Under general conduct while political parties can criticize the other candidates based on policies and programmes and their work records, they are not allowed to incite caste and communal sentiments to lure voters. Political leaders cannot bribe or intimidate voters and most importantly they cannot criticize them based on unverified reports, the Collector said.
It is mandatory for the contesting candidates to furnish their PAN number during nomination, for political parties to inform the local police about their rallies and public meetings and provide them time to make adequate security arrangements. Carrying or burning effigies of the opponents are disallowed. On polling day all those party supporters who are working for their parties in the polling booth must wear a badge with party name and symbol, the Collector instructed.
Apart from voters, only those individuals with permission from the ECI will be allowed to enter polling booths. Political parties must not campaign for votes within distance of 100 meters of the polling booth on the day of election. No MP and Minister should combine their official visit with election campaigning and party works, the Collector warned.
As many as 233 sensitive booths have been identified in Jagatsinghpur district, while there are about 33,000 disabled voters who will cast votes.