New Delhi: The Election Commission on Monday announced the schedule for general elections to the legislative Assemblies of Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland, where the polls will be held on February 23, March 3 and March 5 respectively.
The election result for the first two states will be out on March 7 while vote count for Nagaland will take place on March 8.
For the first time, photo electoral roll to be used in the Northeast in these elections, which means when a voter goes with a voter ID card, a copy of his photo will be with polling officials to verify the genuineness of the voter.
In Tripura, the poll notification will be issued on January 30 and February 6 will be the last date for nomination. The scrutiny of nomination papers will take place on February 7 and the last date for withdrawal of nomination will be February 9.
In Meghalaya, the poll notification will be issued on February 8 while February 15 will be the last date for filing of nominations. The scrutiny of nomination papers will take place on February 16 and February 18 will be the last date for the withdrawal of nominations.
In Nagaland, the poll notification will be issued on February 9 while February 16 will be the last date for filing of nomination. The scrutiny of nomination papers will take place on February 18 and the last date for withdrawal of nomination will be February 20.
The EC said the elections would be conducted in these states on the basis of the electoral rolls revised with reference to 01.01.08 as the qualifying date.
The electoral roll revision process in these states has been completed and the final publication was made in Meghalaya and Tripura on January 1, 2008 and in Nagaland on January 4, 2008.
As per final rolls, there are 12,30,152 electors in Meghalaya, 13,00,507 in Nagaland and 20,30,886 in Tripura.
The Model Code of Conduct has come into effect in the states immediately. The code will apply to the whole of the states of Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura and will be applicable to all candidates, political parties, the state governments concerned and the Union Government, the EC said.
Giving details of the election process, the EC said as many as 1,582 polling stations will be set up in Meghalaya, 1586 in Nagaland and 2372 in Tripura.
For the facility of physically challenged persons, instructions have been issued to ensure that all polling stations are located at ground floor and ramps are provided.
There are 60 Assembly Constituency seats in Meghalaya, out of which 55 seats are reserved for the Scheduled Tribes. In case of Nagaland, there are 60 seats, out of which 59 are reserved for Scheduled Tribes and in Tripura out of total 60 seats, 20 are reserved for the Scheduled Tribes and 7 reserved for the Scheduled Castes.
The poll panel has also issued detailed guidelines for the video coverage of all critical events during the election process and polling at all vulnerable polling booths on the poll day. The digital cameras will also be deployed inside the booths wherever needed.
Based on the assessment of the ground situation, Central Police Forces (CPFs) and State Armed Police (SAPs) drawn from other states will be deployed during the ensuing general elections.
The CPF and SAP will be used generally for safeguarding the polling stations and for providing security to the electors and polling personnel at the polling stations on the poll day.
Besides, these forces will be used for securing the strong rooms where the EVMs are stored and at the counting centers. Wherever needed, the CPF will be deployed in advance for area domination.
The identification of polling stations requiring coverage by CPF in various assembly constituencies will be made in consultation with the ECI Observers.
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