With less than 48 hours left for the by-election in Sulur, Aravakurichi, Thiruparankundram and Ottapidaram Assembly constituencies, the Election Commission has issued a string of strict rules and regulations. According to an official statement, no one shall convene, hold or attend any public meeting or procession in connection with an election. No one shall display to the public any election matter by means of cinematograph, television or other similar apparatus, like, FM Radios, WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, etc. This includes all electronic form of communication, including SMS and internet.

No one shall propagate any election matter to the public by holding or by arranging the holding of, any musical concert or any theatrical performance or any other entertainment or amusement with a view to attracting the member of the public thereto. Any violation of this and above two provisions is punishable with imprisonment for 2 years or fine or both, with reference to Section 126 (2) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. All political functionaries, party workers, etc. who have been brought from outside the constituency and who are not voters of the Constituency should leave the constituency immediately after 6.00 P.M. on 17.05.2019.

Kalyanamandapam, community hall, lodges, guest house would be checked to find out whether the outsiders have been accommodated in these premises. The vehicle permits given to candidates including star campaigners would cease to be valid with effect from 6.00 P.M. on 17.05.2019. On the date of poll, each candidate is entitled to get a separate permit from the Returning Officer for

(i) one vehicle for his use
(ii) one vehicle for the use of election agent and
(iii) another vehicle for his workers or party workers for each Assembly Constituency.

No candidate shall be allowed to hire or procure or use vehicle by candidate or his agent for transporting the voters, to and fro from the polling station which is a corrupt practice punishable under Section 133 ofthe Representation of the People Act, 1951. Temporary campaign office of the candidates / political parties can be set up only 200 Metres outside the polling station with only 2 persons manning the office and they should not allow unnecessary crowd.

Under Section 126(1)(b) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, displaying any election matter including results of any opinion poll or any other poll survey, in any electronic media, would be prohibited during the period of 48 hours ending with the hours fixed for conclusion of poll i.e. from 6.00 p.m. on 17.05.2019. Exit poll has already been banned from 7.00 a.m. on 11.04.2019 till 6.30 p.m. on 19.05.2019.