Following the demise of MLA Raja Venkatappa Naik, Surpur Assembly constituency is now gearing up to hold byelections along with the Lok Sabha polls and steps are being taken by authorities to ensure elections are conducted in a free and fair manner.
Surpur Assembly constituency falls under Raichur Lok Sabha constituency and as the bypoll will be held along with Lok Sabha elections, the authorities are taking all precautions to conduct smooth, fair, and peaceful elections. Both Surpur Assembly and Raichur Lok Sabha Constituencies are reserved for Scheduled Tribes. G. Kumar Naik and Raja Amareshwar Naik are nominated candidates for Congress and BJP in Raichur Lok Sabha constituency. For the Assembly bypoll, Raja Venugopal Naik, the elder son of late Raja Venkatappa Naik and former Minister Narasimha Naik from BJP have been chosen to contest.
Important dates
Assistant Returning Officer for Raichur Lok Sabha and Returning Officer for bypoll K.V. Kavya Rani told presspersons that the process of filing nominations would commence on April 12 and conclude on April 19. The scrutiny of the nominations will be held on April 20, and the last date for the withdrawal of papers is April 22. The voting will be held on May 7, and counting will be on June 4.
“To ensure smooth, proper, and peaceful elections for both the Lok Sabha and Assembly, checkposts have been established in four places: Bandolli, Narayanapur, Malanur, and Hagaratagi. Each vehicle passing through check posts will be checked as Deputy Superintendent of Police of Surpur Sub Division Javed Inamdar and Taluk Panchayat Executive Officer Basavaraj Sajjan have been appointed as nodal officers,” she said. A total of 22 sector officers, 12 FST officers, 12 SST officers, five VST officers and one VVT officer have also been deployed, she added.
Conditions imposed
Candidates must obtain permission from election officers 24 hours before conducting conferences, programmes, campaigns, and using sound systems. The candidates also must pay tax to the concerned local bodies to erect banners and hoardings in the respective areas, Ms. Kavya said. She also gave a briefing about the conditions imposed by the Election Commission on the number of pamphlets and publisher names to be published. Vehicle permission for campaigning is compulsory. Using religious places for campaigns is strictly prohibited, and it is also banned to campaign near polling stations.
cVIGIL app
Ms. Kavya said that the cVIGIL app had been introduced, giving voters the opportunity to register complaints about election malpractices. If anyone finds politicians distributing cash, clothes, and other things to lure voters, they can file a complaint on the vigil app, as election officers will keep the identities of such informers hidden.
Total voters
As many as 2,81,869 voters are eligible to cast votes. Of them, 1,41,858 are male, 1,39,983 are female, and 28 are others. A total of 317 polling booths have been established.
Surpur Assembly constituency recorded 75.16% voting in the 2023 Assembly elections. The election officers have taken all possible initiatives to create awareness among voters in order to increase the percentage of voting.
