Lucknow: Chief Electoral Officer of the state, Navdeep Rinwa said that with the announcement of the dates of Lok Sabha elections on March 16, 2024 by the Election Commission of India, the process of conducting free, fair, peaceful, fear-free, temptation-free, inclusive and safe voting is underway in the state. With the release of election notification on May 07, 2024 (Tuesday), for 13 Lok Sabha constituencies and 403-Dudhi (SC) Assembly by-election-2024 in the seventh phase of Lok Sabha General Election-2024, the process of nomination in these constituencies will begin.
On May 7, the first day of nomination, 05 candidates filed nomination papers for Lok Sabha constituencies. Nominations can be made between 11 am to 3 pm.
The Chief Electoral Officer said that on the first day of nomination on May 07, 05 candidates filed nominations for 13 Lok Sabha constituencies of the seventh phase in the state, in this: –
65-Vijay filed nomination from Bharatiya Janata Party for Kushinagar Lok Sabha constituency.
75-Independent candidate Satyadev Yadav filed nomination for Ghazipur Lok Sabha constituency.
77-Abhishek Prajapati from Bahadur Aadmi Party, Kolisetty Shiv Kumar from Yug Tulsi Party filed nomination for Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency.
79-Daulat Singh filed nomination from Apna Dal (Kameravadi) for Mirzapur Lok Sabha constituency.
Apart from this, nomination for all other Lok Sabha constituencies and Duddhi (ST) assembly by-election of Sonbhadra district remained zero.
Chief Electoral Officer said that under the seventh phase of Lok Sabha elections in the state, 13 Lok Sabha seats include 63-Maharajganj, 64-Gorakhpur, 65-Kushinagar, 66-Deoria, 67-Bansgaon (SC), 70-Ghosi, 71-Salempur, Elections are to be held for 72-Ballia, 75-Ghazipur, 76-Chandauli, 77-Varanasi, 79-Mirzapur, 80-Robertsganj (SC). Out of 13 Lok Sabha seats in the seventh phase, 11 seats are of general category and 02 seats are reserved for Scheduled Castes. The 13 Lok Sabha constituencies of the seventh phase come under 11 districts of the state including Maharajganj, Gorakhpur, Kushinagar, Deoria, Mau, Ballia, Ghazipur, Chandauli, Varanasi, Mirzapur and Sonbhadra. Similarly, 403-Duddhi (ST) assembly constituency comes under Sonbhadra district.
The Chief Electoral Officer said that according to the election schedule set by the Election Commission of India, the last date for filing nominations for 13 Lok Sabha seats and 403-Dudhi (SC) Assembly by-election-2024 in the seventh phase of Lok Sabha General Election-2024 in the state is 14. Scheduled for May, 2024 (Tuesday). Scrutiny of nomination papers will be done on May 15 (Wednesday). The last date for withdrawal of nominations is scheduled for May 17, 2024 (Friday). After this, the list of candidates contesting from these constituencies will be final. The seventh phase of voting will conclude on June 01, 2024 (Saturday). Counting of votes in all constituencies of Uttar Pradesh will be done on June 04, 2024 (Tuesday).
He informed that there are 2.49 crore voters in the 13 Lok Sabha constituencies of the seventh phase, of which 1.32 crore are male voters and 1.17 crore are female voters. There are a total of 14,183 polling stations and 25,658 polling booths in these constituencies. Similarly, there are a total of 3.43 lakh voters in 403-Duddhi (SC) assembly sub-constituency, of which 1.80 lakh are male voters and 1.63 lakh are female voters.
He said that elaborate security arrangements have been made during the nomination. Videography of the entire nomination process is also being done. All district election officers, sub-district election officers and police officers deployed for security have also been instructed to exercise special caution.
The Chief Electoral Officer said that for the Lok Sabha General Elections-2024, general category candidates will have to deposit Rs 25,000 and SC/ST candidates will have to deposit Rs 12,500. For the Assembly by-election, general category candidates will have to deposit Rs 10,000 and SC/ST candidates will have to deposit Rs 5,000. Candidates of recognized national/state parties will require one elector of the constituency as proposer and registered unrecognized political parties and independent candidates will require 10 proposers.
The maximum limit of expenditure for each candidate in the Lok Sabha constituency is Rs 95 lakh and the maximum limit of expenditure for each candidate in the Assembly sub-constituency is Rs 40 lakh. At the time of nomination, entry of maximum 03 vehicles and maximum 05 persons including the candidate will be allowed within the radius of 100 meters of the office of the Returning Officer/Assistant Returning Officer. Candidates fielded by political parties will have to file Form-A and Form-B by 3 pm on the last date of nomination, May 14, 2024 (Monday).
