BackElection Commission to appoint central observers in Tamil Nadu flying squads
A central official will be part of flying squads to prevent distribution of money to voters, says chief election commissioner Nasim Zaidi
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Chennai: The Election Commission of India (ECI) will appoint a central observer in all flying squads ahead of the 16 May Tamil Nadu assembly polls, chief election commissioner Nasim Zaidi said on Friday.
Talking to reporters after reviewing preparations ahead of the elections, Zaidi said, “A central government official will be part of the flying squads to prevent distribution of money to voters."
“The number of flying squads will be increased from the present 700 for effective coverage," Zaidi said, adding that the number of observers would also be increased substantially.
Earlier in the day, the chief election commissioner opened 50 additional facilitation centres to enable voters to procure voter identity cards.
Zaidi and his seven-member ECI team met political parties on Thursday and addressed district collectors and police officials on Friday.
The ECI team landed in Chennai on Wednesday and left for Puducherry for meetings with political parties, poll officials and police officials, among others.
On Wednesday, ECI said that it had seized over ₹ 49 crore in cash in the five poll-bound states and the highest seizure was from Tamil Nadu, where ₹ 20.4 crore had been confiscated so far.
Special flying squads and surveillance teams have been formed by the ECI for conducting checks in poll-bound states.
The model code of conduct came into force on 4 March when the ECI announced election dates for the four states—Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala and Assam—and the Union territory of Puducherry.
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