Chennai, March 28: With the completion of scrutiny of nomination papers for the first phase of Lok Sabha Elections, Chief Electoral Officer for Tamil Nadu - Satyabarata Sahoo -  informed on Thursday that 932 valid nominations have been accepted. The last day for withdrawal of nomination is on Friday.

Informing more about the nomination details, CEO Sahoo said, as Hindustan Times Quotes, "After scrutiny, we have rejected 655 nominations. As of now, 932 valid candidates are in the field to fight the Lok Sabha polls." He added, that the commission had received about 1,587 nominations in total. Tamil Nadu Lok Sabha Elections 2019 Dates: Constituency-Wise Complete Schedule Of Voting And Results For General Elections. 

Adding more, the state CEO said that the commission has rejected 213 nominations for by-polls at 18 vacant assembly seats, while approved 305 nominations. He said, "213 nominations have been rejected for the by-polls and 305 nominations have been accepted by the election commission."

Sahoo said that the state Election Commission has till now registered 44 cases against the political parties in connection with a violation of the model code of conduct. He informed, "Ten Cases have been registered against the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam(DMK). Nine cases have been filed against ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), two against BJP, three cases against Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), three cases against Makkal Needhi Maiam(MNM) of actor Kamal Haasan and 17 cases against Independents. The cases were registered under IPC section 171, Representation of People Act, Motor Vehicle Act."

Sharing other details, he said that EC had seized unaccounted Cash (Rs 50.0 crore), Gold (223.50 Kg), and Silver (69 Kg) to the tune of Rs 121 crore from Tamil Nadu alone. In total, Rs 613 crore of unaccounted cash and items across the nation have been seized by the poll conducting body.

The First Phase of Lok Sabha elections 2019 will take place on April 11, followed by April 8, April 23, April 29, May 6, May 13 and May 19. The counting of votes will take place on May 23 for 543 constituencies.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 28, 2019 11:45 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).