'There is complete preparation for elections in Madhya Pradesh,' says State Chief Electoral Officer Anupam Rajan

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) [India], October 9 : After the announcement of the Madhya Pradesh assembly election date on Monday, state chief electoral officer Anupam Rajan said that there was complete preparation for elections in the state.
Addressing a press conference in the state capital Bhopal, Rajan shared important dates and information related to the forthcoming assembly poll.
"There is complete preparation for elections in the state. The notifications for the nomination of the candidates will be issued on October 21 and the last date to file the nomination of the candidates will be October 30. Scrutiny will be done on October 31 and the last day to withdraw the names will be November 2," Rajan said.
He further said that the election would be conducted in the state in one phase on November 17 and the counting would be done on December 3.
"There are a total of 5,61,36,229 electorates, including 75,304 service voters in the state. The names of the electorates will be added till 10 days before nomination. There will be 64523 polling centres in the state. Of these, 16,763 polling centres will be in urban areas while 47,760 will be in rural areas. Besides, there are 17,000 sensitive booths in the state and there will be special monitoring on these booths," he added.
The officer also said that with the announcement of the election date, the model code of conduct came into force from Monday and control rooms started in all districts. Steps to remove the promotional material started and all the promotional materials would be removed within the next 24 to 72 hours.
"Loudspeakers would remain closed from 10 pm to 6 am in the state. Anyone can make the complaints regarding the violation of the model code of conduct and their identity will be kept confidential. Besides, the government employees engaged in election duty will not be able to exercise their franchise by postal vote. Special booths will be made where government employees will vote," he added.
Rajan also said that a media monitoring cell was formed and certification of advertisement was necessary before placing advertisements in media. Political parties would have to get their advertisements certified.
"According to instructions of the Election Commission of India (ECI), no minister will do an election tour along with its official tour. Government machinery and property will not be used for campaigning. Political activity will not be conducted at government places and buildings. Political advertisements will not be issued with government money," he said.
No financial promise will be made to the public. Promises of new development will not be made. There will be no private advertisements of government achievements. Transfers and posting will not be done without the permission of the Election Commission. No work will be done from the MP MLA fund. Even if the work order has been placed, new work will not start. The state election commission will get the details of works going on and which have not started yet from the state government, he added.
Meanwhile, he also said that there were a total of 2,85,000 licensed arms in Madhya Pradesh. Of these, 35000 arms were collected and the remaining would be collected.