New Delhi, March 26 (NationPress) A total of 985 candidates are contesting in Kerala, while 789 nominees will compete in Assam following the completion of nomination scrutiny for the Assembly elections scheduled on April 9, as reported by an official from the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday.

In Puducherry, 366 candidates have been approved to vie for the 30 Assembly seats. This statement also noted that the final list may change if any candidates choose to withdraw from the race before Friday.

The deadline for submitting nominations in Assam, Kerala, and the Union Territory of Puducherry, along with bypolls in four other states, was set for March 23, according to the official.

For the bypolls in Karnataka, 50 candidates remain in the race.

In Goa, three candidates are contesting for a single Assembly seat; Nagaland has seven candidates for its only Assembly seat, and Tripura features six nominees for one Assembly seat, as detailed in the statement.

The nominations were scrutinized by the Returning Officers (ROs) in the presence of candidates or their agents, with the entire process being recorded on video to ensure maximum transparency.

In compliance with ECI protocols, the ROs compiled a list of validly nominated candidates, which included their photographs displayed prominently on their notice boards.

The ECI released the election schedule for the state Assemblies in Assam (with 126 seats), Kerala (with 140 seats), and Puducherry (with 30 seats), along with bypolls across six states on March 15.

Furthermore, more than 5,173 Flying Squads and over 5,200 Static Surveillance Teams have been deployed in the election-bound states/UT, resulting in the seizure of illicit inducements valued at over Rs 408.82 crore as of Wednesday.

The seizures comprise Rs 17.44 crore in cash, liquor worth Rs 37.68 crore (equivalent to 16.3 lakh litres), drugs valued at Rs 167.38 crore, precious metals worth Rs 23 crore, and additional freebies totaling more than Rs 163.30 crore, according to an official statement.

The teams are dedicated to addressing complaints within 100 minutes to maintain a violence-free, intimidation-free, and inducement-free electoral process.

The ECI has urged citizens and political parties to report any violations of the model code of conduct using the C-Vigil Module on ECINET.

From March 15 to March 25, there have been 70,944 complaints filed through the C-Vigil App in the states/UT involved in the Assembly elections and bypolls.

Out of these, 70,831 complaints have been resolved, with 67,899 or 95.8 percent addressed within 100 minutes, the ECI highlighted.