Panchayat polls: Nomination for first round starts

Meerut: The process of filing nomination for the panchayat elections for the first round of panchayat elections in the district started on Monday, with Day 1 witnessing a large number of prospective candidates with their supporters thronging to the collectorate here. Nomination papers will also be accepted on Tuesday.
Nomination papers were filed for seven wards of zila panchayat and 175 block bevelopment committee members of three blocks – Meerut, Jani and Rohata — at the additional district magistrate (administration) court.
ADM (finance), Gaurav Verma, told the media, “On Day 1 of the nomination, 65 candidates filed their papers for contesting in seven wards of zila panchayat. 103 nominations were filed in Meerut block, 33 in Jani and 103 in Rohata for 175 seats of BDC member.”
Aspiring candidates, along with their supporters, started arriving in the morning. Commuters had a harrowing time as there were long traffic snarls on the stretch from the commissioner’s office crossing to Eastern Kutchery road. SP (city) Om Prakash said police personnel were deployed to regulate the entry of crowd to the nomination office.
According to sources in the administration, scrutiny of the nomination papers for the first round of panchayat election will be held on September 30. Withdrawal of nomination will be till October 3, and on the same day after 3 pm, symbols will be allotted to the candidates. Polling for the first round would be held on October 9. The results will be declared on November 1.
District magistrate Pankaj Yadav, who is the district election officer, said no publisher or printer will be allowed to publish or print any promotional material without having its name on the cover page. Photocopies of any publicity material will be treated on par with the printing one. In addition, no one will be allowed to publish any election advertisement or promotional material in support of any candidate without his/her consent, and if someone does it, strict action under section 171 (H) of IPC will be taken against the guilty.
To ensure a fair and free election, 30 zonal magistrates and 152 sector magistrates are appointed at the district level, while 15 sector magistrates are kept in reserve, Yadav said.