SHILLONG: The filing of nomination papers for the KHADC and JHADC polls begins on Saturday with the official notification to be issued on the same day.
The District Council Affairs Department has issued model code of conduct for the candidates to ensure free and fair polls with effect from Saturday.
In KHADC, the total number of electorate is 7,95,143 with 3,83,633 male and 4,11,468 female voters and 43 service voters.
In JHADC, there are 2,49,334 voters with 1,20,675 male, 1,28,592 female and 67 service voters.
The smallest constituen-cy under KHADC is Laban with 12,575 voters and Mawlai has the maximum number of 44,296 voters.
In JHADC, Rymbai- Khliehriat has the maximum number of 14,147 voters and Saipung has the minimum of 5,430 voters.
Dos and Don’ts
Commissioner and Secretary in-charge District Council Affairs T Dkhar said as per the model code of conduct, there will be no release of MP or MLA schemes. “No work order will be issued by the two district councils except for the ongoing schemes. The laying of foundation stones and inauguration of proj-ects will be put on hold till the election is over,” he said.
According to the government, the KHADC or the JHADC cannot announce any new schemes. “The authorities in the district councils shall not grant any payment out of the discretionary grant,” he said.
The ministers cannot announce financial grant during the period and candidates are barred to carry cash in excess of Rs 50,000. “We have made some exceptions on issuing tender works for the construction of central and state-sponsored programmes,” he said.
The official said to check money power, the deputy commissioners need to make strict enforcement of the model code of conduct.
“The DCs will have to take immediate action on any inputs or information on the use of money in any of the constituencies,” he added.
Expenditure
The state government has estimated an expenditure of Rs 10.78 crore for the conduct of KHADC-JHADC polls.
The state government will initially bear the expenditure for the conduct of elections and it will later be adjusted with the shares on royalties of the district councils. The District Council Affairs Department has brought an amendment on the election expenses of candidates.
According to the new guideline, from the earlier Rs 2.5 lakh, the expenditure ceiling for candidates has been raised to Rs 5 lakh.The security deposit is Rs 5,000 from the earlier Rs 2,500.
NOTA
NOTA will be used for the first time in the district council polls like the polls conducted by the Election Commission. “The district councils already have 1,926 EVMs and we are going to purchase another 820 EVMs. We will use a total of 2,745 EVMs for the polls,” he said.
Polling stations
In KHADC, there is an increase in the number of polling stations with 1,433 compared to 1,148 during the previous polls.
In JHADC, there is an increase of 64 polling stations. From 334 polling stations in the last election, the number of polling stations under JHADC is currently 408.
