EC reviews preparations for Assembly polls

The public election department officials had also completed the setting up of district election offices for the recently carved out five districts of Kallakurichi, Tenkasi, Chengalpattu, Tirupathur and Ranipet.

“The Commission enquired about the general preparation of the voters rolls and the difficulties faced by the CEOs due to pandemic situation,” CEO Sahoo Sathyabrata Sahoo told DT Next. The EC has upgraded new softwares and IT tools for effective digital administration and the same was also reviewed during the meeting. Details like list of submitted forms and deleted forms and the systematic voters’ education and electoral participation programmes were also discussed, the CEO said.

By next month, poll officials in Tamil Nadu will hold an all-party meeting with political party representatives on how to hold a free and fair Assembly polls. The EC had also formed a committee comprising top officials to examine the issues concerning expenditure limit for a candidate.

In view of increase in number of electors and rise in cost inflation index and other factors, there is a proposal by the ministry of Law and Justice to increase the election expenditure of candidates by 10 per cent. The committee will submit its report within 120 days and TN will have a revised expenditure schedule for its aspiring MLA candidates in 2021, official sources said.