GUWAHATI, March 18 � A total of 529 candidates have filed their nominations for the first phase of the Assembly elections in the State. In the meantime, the Election Commission (EC) received 163 cases concerning violation of the model poll code of conduct, most of which have been disposed of.
Seventeen candidates have been disqualified by the EC from contesting the polls.
Revealing this at a press conference today, Chief Electoral Officer Hemanta Narzary said that of the 11,263 polling stations (including nine auxiliary ones) for the first phase of the polls scheduled for April 4, 2,093 had been identified as very sensitive and 2,985 as sensitive.
Following an EC directive to the effect, the police has been executing non-bailable warrants, with 3,035 non-bailable warrants having been executed since March 1. A total of 8,319 NBWs are pending as of now as against the original figure of over 14,000 initially, Narzary said, adding that 3,186 licensed arms had also been seized besides cash worth Rs 70 lakh.
Asserting that the polls would be a smooth and peaceful exercise, Narzary said that a hundred companies of Central paramilitary forces had arrived in the State to join the existing 96 companies.
�Another 150 companies are scheduled to arrive by March 28,� he said, adding that 60-75 per cent of the polling stations would be covered by the Central paramilitary forces.
Narzary said that the disqualification of the 17 candidates stemmed from their failure to show their election expense accounts.
Narzary said that the call centre with a toll-free number which is connected to all the districts had received 117 complaints from the public, of which 78 disposed of. �Most of the complaints have come from the Dispur constituency,� he said, adding that poll monitoring had witnessed several innovations, including the SMS-based system.
