New Delhi, March 26 – After the scrutiny of nominations for the April 9 Assembly elections concluded earlier this week, 985 candidates in Kerala and 789 nominees in Assam are left in the running, an official of the Election Commission of India (ECI) said on Thursday.
In Puducherry, 366 candidates were cleared to contest the 30 Assembly seats, the official said in a statement, adding that the final list may change if any of the candidates withdraw before Friday.
The deadline for filing nominations in Assam, Kerala, and the Union Territory of Puducherry, as well as the by-elections in four states going to polls on April 9, was March 23, the official added.
For the by-elections in two seats in Karnataka, 50 candidates remain in the race.
"In Goa, three candidates will contest on one Assembly seat; in Nagaland, there are seven candidates on the single Assembly seat, and in Tripura, there are six nominees on one Assembly seat," a statement said.
The scrutiny of nominations was conducted by Returning Officers (ROs) in the presence of candidates/their agents, and the entire process was videographed to ensure transparency.
Following ECI instructions, the ROs compiled a list of validly nominated candidates and displayed the list with the candidates' photographs against their names on their notice boards.
The ECI announced the schedule for the elections to the Assemblies of Assam (126 seats), Kerala (140 seats), and Puducherry (30 seats), as well as by-elections in six states, on March 15.
Meanwhile, more than 5,173 flying squads and over 5,200 static surveillance teams deployed across the poll-bound states/UT have seized over Rs 408.82 crore worth of illicit inducements until Wednesday.
"The seizures include Rs 17.44 crore in cash, liquor worth Rs 37.68 crore (16.3 lakh litres), drugs worth Rs 167.38 crore, precious metals worth Rs 23 crore, and other freebies worth more than Rs 163.30 crore," an official statement said.
The teams are tasked with ensuring that complaints are addressed within 100 minutes to ensure a violence-free, intimidation-free, and inducement-free electoral process.
The ECI said that citizens/political parties can report violations of the Model Code of Conduct using the C-Vigil module on ECINET.
From March 15 to March 25, 70,944 complaints have been lodged using the C-Vigil App in the Assembly elections and the by-elections in the states/UTs going to polls.
"Of these, 70,831 have been disposed of, and 67,899, or 95.8 per cent, of the complaints were resolved within 100 minutes," the ECI added.