CEC to hold all-party, review meets on April 2, 3

Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora, along with other election commissioners, is set to visit Tamil Nadu on April 2 and 3 to take stock of poll arrangements and review preparations, Chief Electoral Officer Satyabrata Sahoo said on Saturday.

The CEC will lead the EC delegation and meet representatives of political parties across the State. A review meeting with District Collectors and District Superintendents of Police is also on the cards. The delegation will also address the press after the review meeting, Sahoo said. The team has also scheduled a high-level meeting with the State’s CEO, Chief Secretary, DGP and senior Income-Tax officials, Sahoo added.

Work for polling in 39 Lok Sabha seats and bypolls to 18 Assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu has picked up pace and all district election officers are now mobilising the Electronic Voting Machines to the April 18 polls, the CEO said. Meanwhile, district election officers also released the list of candidates with symbols fixed on it. Social Democratic Party of India, an ally of the AMMK, will contest on the ‘gift pack’ symbol and Tamil Maanila Congress which had earlier demanded bicycle, has been allotted the ‘auto’ symbol. The SDPI is contesting in Central Chennai and TMC is contesting in Thanjavur. The pressure cooker symbol which was earlier represented by TTV Dhinakaran in RK Nagar bypolls was this time allotted to independent candidates.

The AIADMK-led NDA, DMK-led SPA, Kamal Haasan’s MNM, AMMK floated by TTV and Naam Thamizhar Katchi are fielding candidates in all the 40 Lok Sabha seats and 18 vacant Assembly seats.