The Hindu 30.08.2009
By-election for local bodies in October
Staff Reporter
MAKING A POINT: State Election Commissioner D. Chandrasekaran chairing a meeting at the Tirunelveli Collectorate on Saturday.
TIRUNELVELI: By-election for vacancies in the local bodies across the State will be held in October, State Election Commissioner D. Chandrasekaran said.
Speaking to reporters here on Saturday, Mr. Chandrasekeran, who held discussion with Collector M. Jayaraman, police and revenue officials, said that by-election would be held in October for 605 vacancies in various civic bodies, including 508 vacancies in rural local bodies and 97 vacancies in urban local bodies.
Polling in the town panchayats, municipalities and corporations would be conducted with electronic voting machines while ballot papers would be used in the rural local bodies.
“If we have to use EVMs for the village panchayats also, it will cost nearly Rs. 200 crore and hence we’ve forwarded proposals to the government in this connection,” he said.
In Tirunelveli, election would be conducted for 14 vacancies that included 11 village panchayat ward members and one each in municipality council, panchayat president and panchayat union council.
After 3,000-odd contestants failed to submit their poll expenditures, they had been barred from contesting elections in the next three years.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Avinash Kumar, Regional Director of Municipal Administration T. Mohan and other officials participated in the meeting.
