Code of conduct comes into effect

PUDUCHERRY: With the announcement of the date for the by-poll for Indira Nagar constituency, the model code of conduct has been put into effect in Puducherry district comprising Puducherry, Mahe and Yanam regions.According to a press release from Chief Electoral Officer Belatee Pertin, on Wednesday, the model code of conduct would be applicable to all candidates, political parties and the State government. It would also be applicable to the Union government offices in Puducherry.It may be recalled that the election commission has announced that the by-election to the Indira Nagar assembly constituency would be held on October 13.According to the schedule, the notification will be issued on September 19 and last date for filing nominations, September 26. The scrutiny will be held on September 27 and the last date for withdrawal of candidature would be September 29.The by-poll would commence on October 13 and the counting would be held on October 17.The electoral rolls of the Indira Nagar assembly constituency was revised with January 1, 2011 as qualifying date. It was published on Jan 5, 2011.According to the rolls, the total number of voters in the constituency is 29,162 of which 14202 are males and 14960 females.  The rolls will be updated till the last date for nomination.The commission has decided to use Electronic Voting Machines(EVM) and steps have been taken to ensure that the by-poll is conducted smoothly with the help of EVMs.The Electoral Photo Identity Cards (EPIC) will be the main identity of a voter. However, the release said, in order to ensure that no voter is deprived of his/her franchise, if his/her name does not figure in the electoral rolls, separate instructions will be issued to allow additional documents for identification of voters at the time of poll in the by-election.