Election Officer and Regional Commissioner of Belagavi Amlan Aditya Biswas has said that voters of the Karnataka North-West Graduates, Karnataka North-West Teachers, and Karnataka West Teachers constituencies would be given GPS-based information on their respective polling stations to avoid confusion.
Speaking at a meeting of elected representatives in Belagavi on Friday, Mr. Biswas said that as the voters’ list for the Council elections would be prepared fresh for each election, there was no question of confusion as their enrolment would have their latest address.
Although adequate time had been given for enrolment of voters, there would be still time for further additions till 10 days prior to the last date of filing of nominations, he said.
Mr. Biswas said that while the election notification would be issued on May 19, the model code of conduct had already come into force and any violation would be dealt with strictly.
“No public meeting for campaign can be held without prior permission. If at all it is found that a public campaign meeting has been held without prior permission, then permission will be denied for next meeting,” he said.
He said polling would be held on June 13 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and the counting would be held on June 15. The polling stations would be the same for both Karnataka North-West Graduates constituency and Karnataka North West Teachers constituency but there would be two separate ballot boxes for both.
Mr. Biswas said that the nomination papers for the North West Teachers and North West Graduates constituencies would be received at the Regional Commissioner’s office in Belagavi while those for the Karnataka West Teachers constituency would be received at the Deputy Commissioner’s office in Dharwad. He also explained the guidelines to be followed by the candidates and their followers and various permissions required to be taken for canvassing.
Police Commissioner M.B. Boralingaiah briefed about the security measures and asked political party representatives to adhere to the election guidelines. He also asked them to ensure that no additional number of vehicles were used for canvassing.
COVID-19 protocol
Deputy Commissioner of Belagavi Nitesh Patil said that adherence to COVID-19 protocol was mandatory and there was a ban on any kind of rally or yatras during the canvassing. The number of star campaigners had also been reduced to the least this time and there would be a ban on any procession on the counting day. Senior district officials were present in the meeting.
