Campaign to end at 6pm on Saturday in Kerala

KOCHI: All campaign activities of candidates of various political parties will end at 6 pm on Saturday. Ernakulam district collector M G Rajamanickam has warned strict legal action will be initiated against those who violate it. Besides, the collector who is also the district election officer in the district will seize the campaign materials of candidates and political parties who campaign even after 6pm.

The collector said candidates should not make any promises to influence voters during the 48 hour long silent campaign. Campaigning through audio and visuals is also not permitted during the silent campaign period.

Meanwhile, election observers received 39 complaints regarding the violation of code of conduct. Officials settled 23 complaints and rest of the complaints were forwarded to chief electoral officer for more explanation. The complaints were received in the inspections conducted by 14 teams in 14 constituencies in Ernakulam. But no major violation of code of conduct has been reported in the district.

Squads have seized Rs 55.24 lakhs unaccounted money from people since the code of conduct came into force. A total of 42 teams took part in the inspection. Three teams are conducting inspection in each constituency. Three cases have been reported till Friday in the district. The squads had seized foreign currency worth Rs 25.24 lakh and Indian currency of Rs 30 lakh. The flying squad had also seized Rs 14.93 lakh.