The New Indian Express 05.10.2010
11,765 papers filed in district
KOCHI: With the filing of 4,821 nomination papers on the final day on Monday, the total number of nominations for the civic polls in the district have gone up to 11,765.A total of 201 candidates filed nominations in Kochi Corporation, 119 in district panchayat, 769 in block panchayats, 703 in 11 municipalities and 3,027 in grama panchayats.
A clear picture on the final standing of the contestants will emerge only after the scrutiny of the nomination papers on Tuesday.
While the Kochi Corporation will have three returning officers, Tripunithura, Thrikkakara and Kalamassery municipalities will have two each. The candidate, poll agent, the proposer and another person authorised by the candidate can witness the scrutiny, District Collector and District Election Officer M Beena said. All the four will be given an opportunity to verify their papers, the Collector said.
If any mistake is found in the nomination paper, the spare paper submitted by the candidate will be considered, she said.
The returning officer will ensure that the nomination paper does not have any legal anomalies.
The returning officers will not reject the nomination papers for trivial reasons like writing error. The acceptance and rejection of the papers will be decided after enumerating the available data.
The returning officer should inform the state election office about the final list of candidates before the last date of withdrawal.
The list should be displayed on the notice board, the Collector said.Though the assistant returning officers can accept nomination papers, they are not empowered to scrutinise the papers.
11,765 papers filed in distCandidate collapses, dies
Aykarakunnil Sebastian, 59, an Independent candidate for the local bodies polls at Kodayathoor, Thodupuzha, collapsed and died while going to file his nomination papers on Monday.The candidate collapsed and died while he was on the way to file the nominations for the 3rd ward of the panchayat in the afternoon, police said.
He was taken to a private hospital where he was declared dead.
He is survived by wife and four children.Sebastian was former panchayat president, former service cooperative bank president and former Congress Mandalam president.
