Preparations on for Kolhapur North bypoll

KOLHAPUR: The preparations for the upcoming bypoll for Kolhapur North assembly constituency — the seat which was vacated after the demise of sitting Congress MLA Chandrakant Jadhav — has started.
The first level check of the electronic voting machines (EVM) and the voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines, 1,000 each, have been started by the election department of the Kolhapur district administration.The Election Commission of India had written to the administration to start the preparations and get the first level check of the machines done. The administration received the machines from the Solapur district administration, which were used for the Pandharpur-Mangalwedha assembly bypoll held last year.
Bhagwan Kamble, the deputy election officer of Kolhapur, said, “The first level check involves technical scrutiny of the machines. As many as 15 engineers of Bharat Electronics, Bengaluru, have arrived to carry out the technical check. The check mainly involves ensuring the machines are working properly. We have invited the representatives of the political parties to watch the first level check done to ensure transparency. The work will conclude in a week.”
The commission is likely to announce the election soon. According to the rules, the bypoll has to be conducted and the new MLA is to be elected within six months since the time the seat was vacated.
Jadhav passed away in the first week of December and since then the assembly seat won by the Congress for the first time in the recent past has been vacant. The new MLA has to be elected before May 2. The code of conduct for the election is likely to come into effect from next month.
Kamble said the second level check of the various units of electronic voting machines is done ahead of the actual voting. .