GP polls’ schedule announced, model code of conduct in force

With the State Election Commission announcing the dates for the Gram Panchayat elections, the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) will be in force from Monday. The GPs in the district will go to polls in two phases, on December 22 and 24.

Among eight taluks of Mysuru district, five taluks -- Hunsur, KR Nagar, Periyapatna, HD Kote and Sargur will go for election in the first phase. The election in the remaining three taluks --Mysuru, Nanjangud and T Narasipur will go to the polls in the second phase.

The Model Code of Conduct comes into effect immediately and will be in place till December 31, till 5 pm. However, the MCC is not applicable for Town Panchayat, Municipalities and City Corporations.

The Deputy Commissioner will issue the notification for the elections on December 7 and 11, respectively. While the last date to file the nomination papers for the first phase is December 11, the last for the GPs going for polls in the second phase is December 16.

The last date to withdraw the nominations is December 14 and 19, respectively. The voting will be held on December 22 and 27 between 7 am and 5 pm. The counting of votes will be held on December 30. Though the GPs term ended in July, the Election Commission had postponed the polls in May, due to the outbreak of Covid-19.

The district has around 15,11,054 voters in 250 GPs. Among them, 7,60,492 voters are men and 7,50,470 are women voters. The district has a total of 2,078 polling stations, 1,722 normal stations and 356 auxiliary voting centres. An officer said, "Due to Covid-19 pandemic, the polls will be held in two phases. The number of voters will be limited for 1,000 for each booth."

It has to be noted that all the three political parties, the BJP, the JD(S) and the Congress are preparing for the elections. This time, the BJP has taken the election as a challenge in the district and is making all possible efforts to strengthen its hold in the region.