Chief Election Commissioner to review election preparedness in Jaipur

The election commission has also decided to increase the election expenditure limit for candidates to Rs 40 lakh from Rs 30 lakh

India's Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), Rajiv Kumar, is scheduled to visit Jaipur in the last week of September, starting from September 29, to assess the state's preparedness for the upcoming assembly elections, according to a report by the Times of India. During his visit, he will also hold a press conference in the city on October 1.

 

Ahead of the elections, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has decided to increase the election expenditure limit for candidates. The limit has been raised from Rs 30 lakh to Rs 40 lakh. In the 2018 assembly elections, the expenditure limit stood at Rs 28 lakh. Officials have stated that political parties will be informed about this change, and candidates will be informed of the revised election expenditure limit.

 

Additionally, as part of a special summary revision, the electoral authorities have received around 550,000 applications for adding new names to the electoral roll and approximately 330,000 applications for deleting names. The final electoral roll, incorporating these changes, is scheduled to be published on October 4.

 

Since January 5, 2023, the electoral roll in Rajasthan has witnessed substantial updates. Approximately 820,000 new voters have been added to the electoral roll, while around 397,000 names have been deleted. This has resulted in 52 million registered voters in the state. The draft voters' list was initially published under the Election Commission's second special summary revision programme in August.

 

Moreover, the Election Commission has introduced amendments to the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, including a change in the definition of senior citizens. Under the new amendments, only individuals above 80 years of age will be considered senior citizens for election-related purposes. This change means that only voters aged 80 and above will have the option to cast postal ballots during elections, as confirmed by Chief Electoral Officer of Rajasthan, Praveen Gupta.

 

The Rajasthan state assembly elections are slated for the end of 2023 or early 2024.