With just three days left for the close of the campaign for the by-election to the Erode East Assembly constituency on Wednesday, February 5
Chennai: With just three days left for the close of the campaign for the by-election to the Erode East Assembly constituency on Wednesday, February 5, the DMK and the Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK), the only two recognized political parties in the fray, are leaving no stone unturned in directly canvassing for their candidates even as the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced its set of regulations for the contestants.
On Friday, campaigners of both parties waited outside mosques to meet the people leaving the premises after prayers to seek their voters even while intensifying their door-to-door campaigns. The candidates, V C Chandrakumar, a former MLA now fielded by the DMK, and M K Seethalakshmi representing the NTK are also fully immersed in campaign work.
For the DMK, the local leaders and functionaries are slogging it out day and night while NTK chief coordinator has been camping in the constituency and asking the people to vote for Seethalakshmi on Wednesday though he had met with some resistance from the people for his remarks against Dravidar Kazhagam founder Periyar E V Ramasamy.
Polling on Wednesday would be held from 7.00 A.M. to 6.00 P.M, while the campaign would come to an end at 6 pm on Monday, following which regulations would be in operation till the closure of poll under Section 126 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, the notification from ECI said.
During the period, ‘no one shall convene, hold or attend any public meeting or procession in connection with an election, no one shall display to the public any election matter by means of cinematograph, television or other similar apparatus, like, FM Radios, WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, etc, including electronic forms of communication, like SMS and internet, the ECI said.
The notification also said, ‘No one shall propagate any election matter to the public by holding or by arranging the holding of, any musical concert or any theatrical performance or any other entertainment or amusement with a view to attracting the members of the public thereto.’
Violation of the provisions were punishable with imprisonment for 2 years or fine or both, with reference to Section 126 (2) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, the notification said, adding: ‘All political functionaries, party workers, etc. who have been brought from outside the constituency and who are not voters of the Constituency should leave the constituency immediately after 6.00 P.M. on 3.2.2025.’
Marriage and community halls, lodges, guest house would be checked to find out whether any outsider was accommodated in these premises and vehicle permits given to candidates and star campaigners would not be valid after 6.00 P.M. Monday, it said.
On the day of poll, each of the contesting candidates would be entitled to use one vehicle for their own use, one vehicle for use of their election agent and one vehicle for use of their election agent or workers and the permits would be issued by the Returning Officer.
Candidates are barred from transporting voters to the polling station and temporary campaign offices could be set up only 200 metres away from the polling station and manned by only two persons.
The by-election was caused by the passing away of the sitting member representing the Congress party on December 14, 2024, and the seat was handed over to the alliance leader, DMK. All other parties boycotted the elections with only the NTK fielding a candidate.
