Chennai: With Tamilnadu gearing up for the Assembly elections, two Joint Chief Electoral Officers have been appointed to assist CEO Satyabrata Sahoo.
The new Joint Chief Electoral Officers are Agriculture Department Joint Secretary T Anand and Health and Family Welfare Department Joint Secretary Ajay Yadav.
It is said that the appointment was made based on the instructions from the Election Commission.
‘Their appointment is for a period of one year or till the need for it ceases, whichever is earlier,’ said the G.O issued in this regard.
Meanwhile, Satyabrata Sahoo today reviewed the progress made in the arrangements being made for the Assembly elections through a video conference from the Secretariat with the District Election Officers.
Sources said that the notification for the Assembly elections may be issued in the last week of February or in the first week of March and the polling is likely to be completed before 3 May since examinations for the higher secondary course students will be held between 3 and 21 May.
Digital money transactions (during Assembly polls), which come under the purview of the Election Commission, will be monitored and action will be taken as per the standard operating procedure, Sahoo said recently.
Speaking to the media, he had said, ‘Already, a State-level committee has been formed; we held a meeting with officials of the Income Tax, Customs, Enforcement Directorate, the Reserve Bank of India and banks. SOPs are coming from the EC, based on which we will act on transactions that come under the purview of the Commission.’
Stating that he did not see anything wrong in political parties launching their campaign before the announcement of the election date, the CEO added: ‘The Model Code of Conduct will come into effect after the date of election is announced but even otherwise there are certain rules. But there is no bar on parties campaigning.’