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Those shirking election duties will be severely punished, warns EC

Last Updated 10 May 2018, 04:02 IST

Warning that shirking election duty is a cognizable offence, the Election Commission has said it would take action against truant officials.

Speaking to the media in the city, Chief Electoral Officer Sanjiv Kumar said 1,500 officials have dodged election duties in Bengaluru alone. “People are directed not to be absent from poll duties,” he said.

He pointed out that failure to report for election training and other responsibilities would attract penal action under Section 134 of the Representation of People Act, 1951.

Kumar also said a detailed report on officials shirking election duties across the state is being prepared.

The poll panel has received 10,759 complaints about the Samadhan portal, ECI portal, CEO-Karnataka portal, besides complaints about officials and violation of the model code of conduct.

He said Dakshina Kannada reported the highest of 145 poll-related complaints, while 131 complaints have been received from Chikkaballapur and 114 from Tumakuru. Complaints have been very few in Yadgir (4), Kodagu (8) and Chikmagalur (4).

Liquor biz surges

According to the poll panel chief, the liquor business has surged this April.

In April 2017, liquor sales were Rs 842.55 crore, while it is Rs 1,128.1 crore in April 2018. However, production dropped by 10%. It was estimated to be Rs 3.92 crore in April 2017, but a year later, production stands at Rs 3.349 crore.

Revealing that the electoral rolls for the 2018 polls have been finalised, Kumar said women voters outnumber the men. While the number of women is 2,50,09,904, the number of men voters are 2,56,75,579 and others 5,055. The total number of voters in Karnataka is 5,06,90,538, he said.

The Bengaluru South constituency has the highest number of men and women voters, respectively, at 3,22,680 and 2,80,894, while Sringeri has the lowest number of men voters, with 82,003.

Among the constituencies, Kodagu has the lowest number of 4,33,846 voters and Belagavi the highest at 37,23,585.

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(Published 01 May 2018, 18:51 IST)

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