Record 80 poll expenditure observers in action on TN field

“A total of 76 Expenditure Observers have been appointed for 38 constituencies, making it two per Parliamentary segment. However, three persons have been appointed for central Chennai,” he said.

Besides, a senior retired IRS officer will monitor the overall expense audit of the State. The observers will directly send their reports to the election commission and they will not share the details with either the Chief Electoral Officer or the District Election Officers, Sahoo explained.

Retired IRS officer Madhu Mahajan has been appointed the Special Observer for expenditure and more observers will keep tracking the State on a rotation basis. There are possibilities for the police observers also to visit the poll-bound States, the CEO said.

Central Chennai, where DMK heavyweight and media baron Dayanidhi Maran is contesting, will be monitored by three poll observers, whereas in other seats, two observers will monitor the expenditure, official sources said. This was based on the previous reports sent by observers on central Chennai, sources explained.

Elaborating on the implementation of the Model Code of Conduct, Sahoo said Rs 13.90 crore in cash has been recovered so far and that the flying squad and static surveillance teams were carrying out “strict implementation” of the code.

Banks have been informed to appoint a nodal officer to facilitate the smooth transaction of cash movement to ATMs. Of the nearly 22,000 licenced arms in the State, about 18,800 have been deposited while there were some exemptions, he said. Further, defacement to nearly three lakh public and private properties have been removed and over 300 cases filed, Sahoo said. So far more than 500 complaints have also been received through the C-vigil app, the CEO added.