Chief Electoral Officer Bhanwar Lal on Friday questioned the laxity in executing non-bailable warrants (NBWs) by the police in districts going to the polls on June 12.
Reacting to a complaint about a rape accused moving freely and threatening voters of dire consequences unless they supported a particular party in Ramachandrapuram, East Godavari, he said, “There are 2,581 NBWs still remaining unexecuted.”
Asked to name the party to which the accused is affiliated, Mr Lal remarked, “(He) must be from the ruling party”. He also asked the police not to get influenced by any party and act according to law.
Meanwhile, in a major relief to the Election Commission, not too many nominations were filed on Friday, the last day of filing nominations.
This, Mr Lal said, would ensure use of Electronic Voting Machines at all polling centres. At 45, Tirupati Assembly constituency reported the highest nominations, followed by 36 in Parkal and 30 each in Ramachandra-puram, Ongole and Allagadda. Nineteen candidates are in the fray for the Nellore Lok Sabha seat.
“The number of nominations filed is below 64 in all segments (so) we can use EVMs,” Mr Lal said. He said 431 nominations have been filed in all, including 212 on the last day.
Nominations will be scrutinised on Saturday, with Monday (May 28) being the last date for nomination withdrawal. The least number of nominations was filed in Narasannapet, 10, followed by 11 in Polavaram and 12 in Rayadurg, 14 each in Payakaraopet and Narasapuram, 17 each in Prathipadu and Yemmiganur, 26 in Macherla, 29 in Rajampet, 25 in Kodur, 24 in Rayachoty and 23 in Anantapur (urban).
Mr Lal also directed all banks to inform the district election authorities about any transaction over Rs10,000 carried out through ATMs. He took this decision in the face of complaints that followers of several candidates are withdrawing amounts in small denominations and distributing money to voters.
The district officials have also been asked to provide details to the expenditure observers and special Income Tax teams for further inquiry.