First phase of ordinary polls tomorrow
The Hindu
Campaign ended on Monday
The rural local bodies in nine newly constituted districts are set for polling in the first phase of the ordinary elections scheduled for Wednesday. The campaign ended on Monday.
As many as 23,998 posts are expected to be filled through the two-phase elections. A total of 79,433 candidates are in the fray in Chengalpattu, Kallakurichi, Kancheepuram, Ranipet, Tenkasi, Tirunelveli, Tirupattur, Vellore and Villupuram districts.
More than 17,000 police personnel and over 3,400 Home Guards will be deployed for the first phase. The State Election Commission said in an order that political leaders and workers and outsiders should have left the poll-bound areas by Monday evening. State Election Commissioner V. Palanikumar chaired a virtual meeting to discuss the installation of cameras for monitoring the voting.
Around 440 MBBS graduates of 2021 are not required to undergo one year of compulsory rural service as per the bond signed by them while joining the medical course through government-quota seats in 2015 as the High Court of Karnataka has said the law, enacted in 2012 for mandatory rural service, remained unenforced for 10 years as it was published in the official gazette only in July 2022.