MCC for municipal council elections comes into effect

Lokmat News Network

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:

Elections for six municipal councils and one nagar panchayat in the district have been announced, and the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) has come into effect in these areas from Tuesday.

The State Election Commission (SEC) has declared the election schedule for all municipal councils across the state. Since the entire schedule is very tight, the government employees assigned to election duties will have no respite. They will have to undergo training in a hurried manner, and with polling scheduled for December 2 and counting on December 3, the administrative machinery is expected to face extreme pressure, according to officials.

From November 10 to December 3, the entire administration will be engaged in election-related work. Separate staff will need to be appointed for polling and counting. Moreover, since the voting machines must be safeguarded overnight and counting must begin the very next day, officials are likely to be overworked and stressed.

Two weeks for election campaigning

Candidates will get two weeks for campaigning. The expenditure limit for campaigning is as follows:

For Class A municipal councils: ₹5 lakh per candidate

For Class B municipal councils: ₹3.5 lakh per candidate

For Class C municipal councils: ₹2.5 lakh per candidate

For Nagar Panchayats: ₹2.25 lakh per candidate

Election Schedule

Start of nomination filing -- November 10

Last date for filing nominations -- November 17

Scrutiny of nominations -- November 18

Last date for withdrawal (where no appeal)--November 21

Last date for withdrawal (where appeal filed)--November 25

Polling Day--December 2

Counting Day--December 3

Model Code of Conduct

With the declaration of the election program, the model code of conduct (MCC) has come into force in all respective municipal council and panchayat areas. Even though it applies specifically within municipal limits, no announcements or activities influencing voters can be carried out elsewhere either.

Under the Code, the government cannot take any new policy decisions. However, emergency measures and relief activities related to natural calamities are exempted and will not be restricted by the code.

District Collector reviews preparations

Immediately after the election schedule was announced, district collector Deelip Swami held an urgent review meeting. He issued instructions to the municipal administrations, chief officers, sub-divisional officers, tehsildars, and other officials involved in the election process, according to sources.