Kodagu all set for polls to 3 ULBs

The district administration is geared up to conduct the elections for the three urban local bodies (ULBs) of Virajpet, Somwarpet and Kushalnagar on August 29.

Addressing reporters at the DC’s office in Madikeri on Tuesday, Deputy Commissioner P I Sreevidya said that the elections will be held for the three local bodies except for Madikeri City Municipal Council.

Polling will be held for 11 wards of Somwarpet Town Panchayat, 16 wards of Kushalnagar Panchayat and 18 wards of Virajpet Town Panchayat.

Filing of the nominations by candidates will begin from August 10.

In Somwarpet, there are 2,562 male voters and 2,699 female voters. In Kushalnagar, there are 5,899 male voters and 5,700 female voters. In Virajpet there are 6,998 male voters and 6,925 female voters.

The voters may enrol their names to the voters’ list before August 17.

A total of 11 polling booths will be set up in Somwarpet. Kushalnagar and Virajpet will have 16 and 18 polling booths respectively, said the Deputy Commissioner.

Nodal officers have been appointed for the three town panchayat limits.

Assistant Commissioner Dr Nanjundegowda will be the nodal officer for Kushalnagar, ITDP Officer Shivkumar will be the nodal officer for Somwarpet and Agriculture Department Deputy Director K Raju will be the nodal officer for Virajpet.

The election model code of conduct has come into effect from August 2 and will be in force till September 1. However, the code of conduct is not applicable to the CMC and rural areas of Madikeri.

The general public may inform the district administration regarding the violation of the election code of conduct, if any, by contacting the control room number 08272-221077

The competent authority has also appointed nodal officers for the model code of conduct. Their details are as follows: Somwarpet 1st to 11th wards - Nagarajaiah (94806 95261), Meghanath (99005 00186), Kushalnagar 1st to 8th ward - B D Sunil (98805 97289), K R Ravikumar (94487 90327), Kushalnagar 9th to 16th ward - Dharmaraj (94488 25957), T P Satya (97430 71171) and Virajpet 1st to 9th ward E M Suresh (94485 04368), Arun Bhaskar (79961 98956), 10th to 18th ward - G A Lokesh (94806 95262), Jalendra (99863 45695).

P I Sreevidya further said that in Somwarpet, among the 11 polling booths, there are 3 sensitive, 2 hypersensitive and 6 general booths.

Among 16 booths in Kushalnagar, there are 4 sensitive, 3 hypersensitive and 9 general booths.

Among the 18 booths in Virajpet, there are 3 sensitive, three hypersensitive and 13 general booths.

Mustering and de-mustering works will be carried out at Government PU College in Somwarpet and Government PU College in Virajpet.

Counting of votes will be held in these two places on September 1.

Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) will be used for the elections. However, VVPAT machines will not be used, the DC added.