Zilla, taluk panchayat poll dates announced

Announcing the schedule for the elections on Monday, State Election Commissioner C R Chikkamath said 15 districts, including Bangalore Urban, will go to the polls in the first phase on December 26, while polling for the remaining others will be held on December 31. However, ZP elections for three districts—Davangere, Gadag and Haveri—will not be held as the Karnataka High Court has stayed the reservation notification for them. TP elections in these districts will be held as scheduled, he added.

The model code of conduct came into effect on December 6 midnight across the State, including urban areas, and it will remain in force till January 5, 2011—till the completion of the election process. The elections will be held for 929 ZP seats (excluding Haveri, Gadag and Davanagere) in 27 zilla panchayats and 3,659 TP seats in 176 taluk panchayats. For the first time, the State Election Commission (SEC) has reserved 50 per cent of the seats for women in all categories.

The ZP and TP elections will be held based on the October 4 ordinance promulgated by the governor, which has restricted the number of reserved seats to 50 per cent as per the Supreme Court judgment. Though the government decided to repeal changes in the ordinance following uproar from the Opposition parties for cutting down the reservation for OBCs, Governor H R Bhardwaj refused to promulgate another ordinance in this regard.

For the first time, the SEC is using electronic voting machines (EVMs) in the ZP and the TP elections. As many as 1,18,645 EVMs will be used. The SEC is appointing a secretary-rank IAS officer special observer in charge of every two districts. Senior KAS officers will be observers for every sub-division. Check posts have been already set up in all boundary areas of the State to prevent the flow of liquor during the elections. The SEC has sought the help of SECs of all neighbouring States in this regard, Chikkamath said.

The SEC has directed deputy commissioners of all districts to set up a 24/7, toll-free complaint cell for people to lodge their complaints, if any.

Anticipating the elections, all three political parties—the BJP, Congress and JD(S)—have already jumped into the poll mood. The BJP leaders are holding a meeting with their national president Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday to chalk out strategies, while the Congress has begun holding meetings with district party members as part of the preparations. The JD(S) leaders are already in the field. Party state President H D Kumaraswamy has been touring the State and holding public meetings with an eye on the elections.

The elections are crucial for the three parties as it will help them strengthen their base. The Opposition parties have already decided to make the land scam a big poll issue. For the Yeddyurappa-led BJP, the polls are seen as a litmus test of its popularity.

Election calendar

* ZP and TP polls in two phases on Dec 26 and 31
* Counting of votes on January 4, 2011
* Last date for filing nominations is Dec 20
* Last date for withdrawal is Dec 23
* Repolling, if necessary, on January 3, 2011
* Total 2,67,87,141 voters
* Total polling stations is 32,382 (including 6,974 sensitive and 5,143 hyper-sensitive)
* 50 per cent reservation for women in all categories
* EVMs will be used for polling for the first time
* Toll-free, 24/7 control room be set up in all districts
* Candidate expenditure limit for ZP is Rs 1 lakh and Rs 50,000 for TP