As the deadline to withdraw the nomination papers to contest the Puthuppally byelection ended on Monday, the seven candidates were allotted the election symbols.
Of this, candidates fielded by the four recognised parties – Chandy Oommen of the Congress, Jaick C. Thomas of the CPI(M), G. Lijin Lal of the BJP and Luke Thomas of the Aam Aadmi Party – will contest under their respective party symbols.
The remaining three are contesting as independents. Their names and respective symbols are as follows: P.K. Thomas (jackfruit), Shaji (battery torch) and Santosh Pulickal (autorickshaw).
Meanwhile, the verification of election campaign expenses of the candidates will begin at the District Collectorate on August 23. The secondary round of assessment will be held on August 28, followed by another round on September 2. Legal action will be initiated in case of the candidates or their agents failing to produce the income and expenditure accounts, vouchers and bills prepared in the prescribed format.
A training programme for the zonal magistrate, sectoral officers and sectoral assistant to be deployed for the byelection was also organised during the day. Nodal officer Niju Kurian, supported by 20 master trainers, led the training programmes held at Baselius College, Kottayam.
Five zonal magistrates, 41 sectoral officers, 113 sectoral assistants and around 30 other officials posted across 182 booths of the Assembly constituency participated. The training, lasting over two sessions, pertained to the electronic voting machines (EVMs), VVPAT and so on and the duties to be performed by election officials.
Meanwhile, the election observers have requested the general public to report their complaints regarding the byelection either directly or over the phone. The observers will hear the complaint directly from 9 a.m. till 10 a.m. at the Nattakom Government Guest House, Kottayam.
The observers are: general observer – Yugal Kishore Pant ( 9188921356); police observer – V. Harshavardhan Raju – 9188921357; and expenditure observer – D. Laxmikanta (9188921355). E-mail address: observercellktm@gmail.com.
