All roads lead to voters’ doorsteps in Pondy
With the election date for the by-poll in Nellithope Assembly constituency drawing close (November 19), political parties have dispensed with public meetings, a common scenario in an election, and are instead resorting to door-to-door campaigns.
By : migrator
Update: 2016-11-16 17:30 GMT
Puducherry
A team of ministers and AIADMK functionaries from neighbouring Tamil Nadu have been on campaign trail along with local party activists, canvassing votes for the party candidate Om Sakthi Sekhar. In support of the Congress candidate, Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy, the Leader of Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Assembly and DMK treasurer M K Stalin made whistle stop campaigns in the constituency on November 13. TNCC leader Su Thirunavukarasar also canvassed votes for Narayanasamy. There are a total of eight contestants including four independents in the fray, although the fight is chiefly between the Congress and AIADMK.
Meanwhile, Narayanasamy on Wednesday said that his victory chance was bright in the hustings. Narayanasamy who undertook door-to-door canvassing at Thirumal Nagar here said that after DMK leader Stalin undertook electioneering on his behalf, the campaign had gained momentum and the chance for his victory has become certain.
In yet another development, the Election Commission officials on Wednesday seized cash to the tune of Rs 45 lakh, all in the denominations of the scrapped Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes, from a car in Muthialpet near Puducherry. The driver of the car was taken into custody for questioning for flouting the model code of conduct in force, District Collector-cum-District Election officer Satyendra Singh Dursawat said.
Outsiders to vacate today
The Election Department on Wednesday directed outsiders camping in Nellithope constituency to leave by 5 pm on Thursday, the last day for the campaign for the November 19 assembly by-election. Meanwhile, training was provided to 40 personnel to be involved in the counting process in Puducherry. Election department officials Yashwanthaiah, Dinakaran, Ramswami and others gave training to the personnel on counting of the votes polled in the EVMs.
Service voters to poll via Internet
For the first time in the country, four service voters (voters employed in armed forces and government staff employed in other states and abroad) will cast their vote via Internet voting system in Nellithope, where the facility has been introduced on an experimental basis for the upcoming by-poll. Under the ‘Electronic Transmitter Postal ballot’ system, the election officer concerned would contact the eligible service voters in the constituency over cell phone or by e-mail and will give them a one-time password. When the service voters contact the election department using the given password, they will be given a special number with which they could cast their vote. The vote cast by the service voter will reach the Returning Officer of the constituency. There are four service voters in Nellithope assembly constituency and on November 6, e-mails were sent to all of them. Service voters have time to poll till the counting day.
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