The election commission on Thursday announced that byelection to the R K Nagar constituency in Chennai would be held on April 12. The election is necessitated following the death of former chief minister J Jayalalithaa on December 5.
Going by the schedule put out by the poll panel, the notification for elections will be issued on March 16, the day when the state budget would be presented in the assembly. The last date for filing nominations is March 23. The nominations would be scrutinised on March 24, and March 27 is the last date for withdrawal of the candidatures. Counting of votes will be held on April 15.
This is the third consecutive year since 2015 that R K Nagar is facing an election. Jayalalithaa won a byelection in the constituency in 2015, polling 1.5 lakh votes, after she was acquitted by the Karnataka high court in the disproportionate assets case. In May 2016, when the assembly election was held in the state, Jayalalithaa again contested from R K Nagar and won.
There are bound to be a few key contestants in the crucial byelection. While the battle for control of AIADMK intensified with the rebel group led by O Panneerselvam petitioning the Chief Election Commission on the validity of V K Sasikala's appointment as party general secretary, a third contender for the Jayalalithaa legacy and her niece Deepa Jayakumar on Thursday announced she will contest the R K Nagar byelection.
Meanwhile, in the DMK camp, the party invited applications from prospective candidates from Friday even as TNCC chief S Thirunavukkarasar said the electoral alliance with DMK would continue.
The model code of conduct, which has come into effect immediately, restrains the AIADMK government from announcing any financial grants in any form or make promises, lay foundation stones of projects or schemes of any kind, or make any promise of construction of roads, provision of drinking water facilities, which may have the effect of influencing the voters in the constituency.
"The commission has decided to use electronic voting machines in the bypoll. Adequate numbers of EVMs have been made available and all steps have been taken to ensure that the polls are conducted smoothly with the help of these machines," an official statement said.
In consonance with the past practice, the commission has decided that the voter's identification will be made mandatory at the time of poll. Electoral photo identity cards shall be the main document of identification of a voter. In order to ensure that no voter is deprived of his/her franchise, if his/her name figures in the electoral roll, separate instructions will be issued to allow additional documents for identification of voters at the time of poll, according to the election commission.
Going by the schedule put out by the poll panel, the notification for elections will be issued on March 16, the day when the state budget would be presented in the assembly. The last date for filing nominations is March 23. The nominations would be scrutinised on March 24, and March 27 is the last date for withdrawal of the candidatures. Counting of votes will be held on April 15.
This is the third consecutive year since 2015 that R K Nagar is facing an election. Jayalalithaa won a byelection in the constituency in 2015, polling 1.5 lakh votes, after she was acquitted by the Karnataka high court in the disproportionate assets case. In May 2016, when the assembly election was held in the state, Jayalalithaa again contested from R K Nagar and won.
There are bound to be a few key contestants in the crucial byelection. While the battle for control of AIADMK intensified with the rebel group led by O Panneerselvam petitioning the Chief Election Commission on the validity of V K Sasikala's appointment as party general secretary, a third contender for the Jayalalithaa legacy and her niece Deepa Jayakumar on Thursday announced she will contest the R K Nagar byelection.
Meanwhile, in the DMK camp, the party invited applications from prospective candidates from Friday even as TNCC chief S Thirunavukkarasar said the electoral alliance with DMK would continue.
The model code of conduct, which has come into effect immediately, restrains the AIADMK government from announcing any financial grants in any form or make promises, lay foundation stones of projects or schemes of any kind, or make any promise of construction of roads, provision of drinking water facilities, which may have the effect of influencing the voters in the constituency.
"The commission has decided to use electronic voting machines in the bypoll. Adequate numbers of EVMs have been made available and all steps have been taken to ensure that the polls are conducted smoothly with the help of these machines," an official statement said.
In consonance with the past practice, the commission has decided that the voter's identification will be made mandatory at the time of poll. Electoral photo identity cards shall be the main document of identification of a voter. In order to ensure that no voter is deprived of his/her franchise, if his/her name figures in the electoral roll, separate instructions will be issued to allow additional documents for identification of voters at the time of poll, according to the election commission.