On the instructions of election commission, FIRs (First Information Report) have been registered against organizers of ‘Town Hall’ and ‘Sant Sabha’ – the two events where Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan was present as the key person. CEO VL Kantha Rao informed reporters here on Monday. The Town Hall programme, organized this Sunday at Ravindra Bhawan, had hit the headlines because of presence of school children in uniform. Sant Sabha was held at Hindi Bhawan a week ago.
Rajesh Tiwari of Raja Bhoj Ekal Abhiyan Samiti was booked for violating the permissions granted for holding the Sant Samagam at Hindi Bhawan. An FIR was registered against Tiwari at the Shyamla Hills police station under Section 188 of IPC.
BJP MLA Surendra Nath Singh from Bhopal central constituency was booked for violation of district magistrate’s order in holding the organisation of Yuva Town Hall programme on Sunday, where too chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan was the key participant. It was found that school students were brought to the BJP’s programme. Both the FIR’s were lodged by the district election officer.
Voter guide to be distributed to 1.25 cr families
In a first, the election commission will distribute printed voter guide to around 1.25 crore families in the state. Rao said that the move will help the voters to understand the electoral process as VVPAT was being used for the first time in the state. The guide will tell the voters about the voting process and the new features and helpline numbers. The guide will be distributed by booth level officers along with voters slip.
3 constituencies to vote from 7am – 3pm
The voters will exercise their franchise on November 28 from 8 am to 5 am, except in three assembly constituencies. Three constituencies with Naxal affect, namely Baihar, Lanji and Paraswada will vote between 7 am and 3 pm. CEO Rao said that the Governor has sanctioned powers of executive magistrate to 8,795 sector officers.
A notification in this regard has been issued by the law department. The officers were given power equal to that of executive magistrate for maintaining law and order. The election commission has also appointed observers for the assembly election. Overall 198 general observers, 35 police observers, 127 expenditure observers and 3 accessibility observers have been appointed in the state. They will start functioning from November 8, the last date for filing nomination.
