Six ACs identified as expenditure sensitive constituencies
ECI officials will soon visit state: CEO Manipur
Source: Chronicle News Service / DIPR

Imphal, December 14 2021: Chief electoral officer (CEO), Manipur Rajesh Agrawal has informed that officials of the Election Commission of India (ECI) will soon visit the state in connection with the 12th Manipur Legislative Assembly Election, which is expected to be conducted in February or March, 2022.Addressing a press meet held at the Lamphelpat office of the CEO on Tuesday, Rajesh Agrawal pointed out that the term of present 11th Manipur Legislative Assembly will end on March 19, 2022.Hence, electoral process will have to be completed before the end of the term.

ECI officials will visit the state after visiting Punjab on December 15.The date of election is most likely to be announced soon after the visit of ECI officials to the state, he added.

The CEO also informed that based on report received on expenditure incurred by candidates in the last election; seizure of cash, liquor and other items along with activities of candidates, six assembly constituencies of the state have been identified as Expenditure Sensitive Constituencies.

They are Andro, Wangoi, Mayang Imphal, Thanga, Lilong and Churachandpur (ST).

Teams of Flying Squad, Static Surveillance, Video Surveillance, Video Viewing and Accounting have been appointed and trained.

All these teams will be activated immediately after announcement of the election schedules.

A meeting with Enforcement Agencies - Income Tax, Customs, Excise, Narcotics, BSF, CISF, Enforcement Directorate, was also held on December 10 which deliberated at length about the expenditure aspects, he conveyed.

Rajesh Agrawal also announced that to ensure the election is conducted in a free and fair manner, public can upload videos and photos to mobile app cVIGIL to file complaint against any political party or candidate involved in illegal activities or distrir bution of money or incurring extra expenditure from the fixed limit.

CEO Manipur will take suitable action against the political party or candidate named in the complaint, he assured.

The CEO further informed that the period for filing claims and objections for Special Summary Revision (SSR) of Photo Electoral Rolls with reference to January 1, 2022 has been completed.

Over 1.4 lakh forms have been received during the SSR period and disposal of forms will be completed by December 20.He said that the list of additions/deletions during continuous updation has been made available on the CEO's website.

As per schedule fixed by ECI, Final Electoral Rolls will be published on January 5, 2022.Copies of Final Electoral Rolls will be made available free of cost to all recognised political patties.

The electoral rolls will also be uploaded on the website of CEO Manipur.

Rajesh Agrawal continued that First Level Checking (FLC) of M3-EVMs was completed for all the districts on November 10.An additional 1000 VVPATs have been received from Assam and distributed to all districts.

FLC of these machines is scheduled to start from December 21.EVM Demonstration Centres have been set up in all offices of district election officers and returning officers to make voters familiarise with the functioning of EVMs.

Demonstration vans will also be launched and travel around the polling stations across the state.

Training of returning officers and assistant returning officers on various topics including.

Qualification, Disqualification, Nomination, Scrutiny, Model Code of Conduct, Expenditure, Postal Ballots, EVMs, Poll Day Arrangement, etc., has been completed.

All DEOs have also been trained.

An evaluation programme was also held on December 10 while two Master Trainers per assembly constituency have been given hands-on training on EVMs.

Assistant expenditure observers and district nodal officers for Election Expenditure Management have also been identified and trained on December 9 and 10, he said.

Rajesh Agarwal mentioned that three rounds of meetings have been held with recognised national/state political parties functioning in Manipur.

The political parties have been extending full cooperation during the revision period and in the run up to the conduct of the ensuing general election by giving valuable feedback and suggestions.

A training cum sensitisa-tion programme on EVMs was also conducted on December 5 followed by another meeting on Tuesday at the conference hall of CEO wherein they have been briefed about the preparations taking place for the conduct of general election.

A training programme for political parties on Model Code of Conduct, Expenditure, cVIGIL, Pre-Certification of Political Advertisement, IT Apps will also be arranged soon.

Political parties have also been informed on the requirement of publication of criminal antecedents of candidates in newspapers/TV on three different occasions, he stated.

Rajesh Agrawal also maintained that sector officers and sector police officers have been appointed and trained and are currently visiting the polling stations to identify vulnerable locations and voter segments.

Steps also have been taken to identify history sheeters, trouble mongers and people causing vulnerability and are bound down under CrPC.

As a measure to curb pre poll violence, 8648 licensed arms have been made to deposit to the nearest police stations out of 25,299 till date.

Besides deploying micro-observers, all critical & vulnerable polling stations will be brought under webcasting/videography.

Additional CAPF will also be deployed in such polling stations.

Vehicle requirements have been worked out.

6588 vehicles of different types will be required for polling and security personnel on poll duty.

CEO, Manipur has also written to chief secretaries of Assam and Nagaland for extending cooperation in requisition of around 3000 heavy vehicles for interstate transportation of CAPF, he added.

With regard to COVID-19, a day-long consultation programme with state health nodal Officer, medical superintendents of RIMS & JNIMs, district health nodal officers including CMOs and medical superintendents was held on December 5 which deliberated on the protocols to be followed during the ensuing elections.

ECI has also come up with "Broad Guidelines for Conduct of General Election/Bye Election during Covid-19" and CEO, Manipur and all district functionaries are committed to follow in letter and spirit and issue necessary instructions to candidates, political parties and voters at large- A state specific, plan with respect to Covid Management is also being prepared.

It was also decided to operationalise cashless treatment of persons on election duty, Rapid Response Team, Air Ambulance and 24/7 Control Rooms, he communicated.

CEO Manipur also sought support of the media fraternity to ensure free and fair election in the forthcoming Election.

He also appealed to the media persons to verify any election related information with the officers concerned and officials prior to dissemination in order to avoid any misinformation.

The press conference was also attended by additional CEO Naorem Praveen Singh, joint CEO Ramananda Nongmeikapam, joint CEO (II) Md S Daulat Khan, and PMC coordinator & nodal officer (Media) W Phajatombi.

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