Election schedule to rural civic bodies in 9 districts soon: TN poll panel

The schedule for election to the rural local bodies in nine districts including Kanchipuram and Chengalpattu would be announced soon, the Tamil Nadu State Election Commission said here on Monday.

During deliberations with representatives of recognised political parties here on Monday, the panel said it apprised them that the electoral rolls for rural civic bodies have been prepared on the basis of Election Commission's current Assembly segment-wise data. Opinions of parties would be considered and in line with its undertaking in the Supreme Court, the poll schedule for such districts would be announced soon and this was conveyed to the party representatives, the TNSEC said in an official release. The meet was chaired by TNSEC chief V Palanikumar and representatives of the ruling DMK, main opposition AIADMK, Congress, BJP, the Left parties participated besides others.

AIADMK leader D Jayakumar, emerging from the meeting said his party underscored that the polls should be held in a free and fair manner and after complying with delimitation norms for sections including women, Scheduled Castes and Tribes.

Steps including CCTV cameras should be in place in counting centres in addition to three-tier security, Jayakumar told reporters.

The time for polling should be only between 7 AM and 6 PM and this view has been accepted by all parties, he claimed, adding the last one hour from 5 PM to 6 PM may be earmarked for coronavirus patients. The nine districts where rural civic polls are expected to be held soon are Kanchipuram, Chengalpattu, Villupuram, Kallakurichi, Vellore, Ranipet, Tirupathur, Tirunelveli and Tenkasi.

Pending delimitation of territorial wards in these districts following reconstitution of districts, rural local body polls were not conducted in such regions while the same was held in 27 other districts of Tamil Nadu in December 2019. During the previous AIADMK regime, Chegalpattu was carved out of Kanchipuram and Vellore was trifurcated, resulting in two new districts of Ranipet and Tirupathur. Kallakurichi and Tenkasi became two new districts, and these were split from Villupuram and Tirunelveli districts respectively.