PANJIM: The long-delayed elections to the five municipal councils of Mapusa, Margao, Mormugao, Sanguem and Quepem will take place on April 23, while counting will be taken up on April 26.
Over 1.85 lakh voters are eligible to exercise their franchise across the five municipalities, which were caught in litigation over anomalies in the reservation process.
Along with these five municipal councils, the State Election Commission (SEC) announced by-elections on the same day to Ward II of Karapur-Sarvan village panchayat in Bicholim taluka and ward IV of Velim village panchayat in Salcete taluka.
With the SEC announcing the poll schedule, the model code of conduct has come into force within the jurisdiction of the poll-bound areas with immediate effect.
Addressing media persons, Election Commissioner W V Ramanamurthy said polling will take place on April 23 from 8 am to 5 pm; wherein the last hour of polling would be reserved for COVID-19 voters.
Counting will take place on April 26 from 8 am onwards. Filing of nominations will take place from March 31 to April 8, except for April 2 on account of a public holiday and April 4 Sunday.
Scrutiny of applications will take place on April 9, while withdrawal of candidature, if any, will be allowed on April 10.
The Election Commissioner said that the Election Commission of India (ECI) has issued a detailed Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to be followed for conduct of elections and this would be adopted.
In the five municipalities, covering 93 wards, polling will take place across 230 polling booths and 124 polling stations.
Ramanamurthy said there are 18 sensitive polling booths in Mormugao municipal area, alone.
The five municipalities were to go to the polls along with six others on March 20, however, the elections were declared null and void after the Supreme Court stalled the election process due to irregularities in the ward reservation.
In the recently-concluded elections in seven urban local bodies, BJP-backed panels swept six including the Panjim city corporation.
When pointed out that Section 144 of the CrPC is currently in force banning the gathering of more than five persons, the SEC said he will take up the matter with the District Collectors.
The District Collectors have been appointed as Municipal Council Election Officers, while one returning officer and one assistant RO is appointed for each municipal area. Similarly, general and expenditure observers have also been appointed.
