There are 344 candidates in the fray for the Assembly elections which will be held on May 16 in the Union Territory of Puducherry.
Filing of nominations for the Assembly elections in Puducherry began on April 22 and the last date for filing of nominations was April 29. At the end of scrutiny last Saturday, the nominations of 366 candidates were accepted by the Returning Officers to the respective constituencies.
Twenty two of them including three PMK candidates and 19 independents withdrew their nominations on Monday which was the last day for withdrawal of nominations.
Addressing media persons here, Chief Electoral Officer V. Candavelou said, “At the end of the day for withdrawal, 344 contestants are in fray including 21 women and one transgender.
In Karaikal
Only eight candidates are in fray in Karaikal North constituency which is the lowest among thirty Assembly constituencies in the UT and as the highest number, 14 candidates are contesting in Oulgaret constituency.”
After the deadline for withdrawal was over, the CEO added that the list of candidates will be published by the Returning Officers concerned for each constituency and their symbols will also be allotted.
According to the Election officials, there are 71 candidates from recognised national parties, 93 from recognised regional parties, 81 from unrecognised regional parties and 97 independents.
Drum symbol was not allotted to the candidates of Desiya Murpokku Dravidar Kazhagam (DMDK) as they had not obtained any order from the Election Commission of India. Hence they will be allotted free symbol.
The Chief Electoral Officer appealed to the voters to come out in large number to the polling stations on the day of polling in the constituencies such as Raj Bhavan and Kamaraj Nagar where polling percentage was 76 during the last parliamentary elections.
Cuddalore district
A total of 15 candidates have withdrawn their nomination papers from nine assembly constituencies in the district, leaving 121 candidates in the fray for the May 16 assembly elections.
Of them, seven withdrew their nominations from Neyveli assembly constituency followed by four candidates in Bhuvanagiri assembly segment and two each in Thittakudi (Reserved) and Virudhachalam assembly segments.
Meanwhile, as per the total electoral roll released by the district administration,
Cuddalore district has a total electorate of 19,99,507 including 9,94,981 men and 10,04,443 women.
As per the revised list, a total of 29,320 voters have been added to the final electoral rolls.
A critical and vulnerability mapping of the polling booths in Cuddalore district has identified 115 of the 2,256 booths as sensitive and five booths as highly sensitive. No booths have been marked highly sensitive or vulnerable.
Criteria for mapping
The mapping was based on a certain criteria including history of electoral violence and instances of re-polling, among others, District Election Officer and Collector S. Suresh Kumar said.
Adequate security arrangements including web-casting of the polls will be made from the sensitive booths to ensure continuous monitoring and timely intervention.
Five companies of central para-military forces who are expected to arrive on Tuesday will be deployed at these booths, he added.
Drum symbol was not allotted to DMDK as it had not obtained the order form from the EC
