Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Five nominations accepted for Sikkim bye-polls


NAMCHI, August 25: A total of five nominations have been accepted after the scrutiny of the nomination papers, filed by six candidates for the 11 Namchi-Singithang constituency bye-election in South Sikkim.
The accepted nominated candidates are Binod Rai for the ruling Sikkim Democratic Front, Yova Raj Rai from INC Congress Party, Arjun Kumar Rai from Sikkim Gorkha Prajatantrik Party (SGPP), Namgyal Dorjee Bhutia and Chandra Prakash Mangar as independent candidates.
During a brief press conference held at the office of the District Collector (South) in the presence of general observer P. Venkateswarlu, the DC (South), AK Singh who is also the Returning Officer for the Bye-elections further said there are a total of 15 polling stations. “Out of the 15 stations, Tinzir and Mikhola have been declared as sensitive zones,” he said.
The DC further said that section 144, all other rules and regulations related to the Model Code of Conduct like limited usage of Vehicles, no of passengers, expenditures, holding meetings etc have been implemented in the constituency. He added that Sector Police Officers have also been declared where SDPO Namchi, TD Kazi is the Sector Police Officer, PI Sonam Detchu is the Sub Sector Police Officer with SI Karma Doma Bhutia. SDM Namchi, Annapurna Alley is the Sector Magistrate.
The returning officer further said that teachers have been spared from the Polling duties. A total of 5 polling personnel have been allotted in each polling station while 25 persons have been kept as reserved, he said. The DC further said that all of the polling personnel are non voters of this bye-election.
The training for the polling personnel and concerned officials will be held on September 5 at South District Administrative Centre Conference Hall.
Mr. Singh also informed that strong room for the EVMs have been prepared at the District Administrative Centre, for which he has requested the Election Commission at Gangtok to send fresh EVMs for this election.
Earlier, after the process of scrutiny, the District Collector and the Election Observer met with the candidates and briefed them on the model code of conduct and other essential aspects related to the election.
Requesting all the candidates to maintain the rules and regulations of the election process, the DC asked the people to create the same ambience in the bye-election like done during the recent general election. At the same time, the DC also assured complete cooperation from his office to the candidates and also urged them for cooperation to conduct the election in a transparent, just, accessible and peaceful manner.
In the case of unfortunate incidents, the DC asked the candidates to contact him or the other concerned officials attached to the election duty for any kind of help or inquiries. Mr. Singh also asked the candidates to submit only those authentic complaints or grievances on genuine grounds either to him or to the Observer to avoid false implications.
The Observer asked the candidates to submit their expenditure details to him at the Dak Bungalow where he is presently residing.
The withdrawal of candidatures is on August 27 while the polling day is on September 10 from 7 am to 4 pm.