As many as seven candidates will fight it out from Kottayam in the Lok Sabha poll on April 23.
The final list of candidates was finalised after the deadline set to withdraw the nomination papers drew to a close at 3 p.m. on Monday. Since, none of the candidates withdrew the nomination papers, there will be seven candidates in the fray in Kottayam
Later, the district returning officer issued election symbol for each candidates. Apart from the party symbols of ‘two leaves’ to the UDF candidate Thomas Chazhikkadan, ‘hammer, sickle and star’ for the LDF candidate V. N. Vasavan, and ‘elephant’ for the BSP candidate Jijomon Joseph, the symbols allotted to other candidates are as follows: P C Thomas (NDA) – television; E. V. Prakash (SUCI-Communist) – Battery torch; Ignatius Illimoottil – hat; Thomas J Nidheeri – Football.
Meanwhile, polling officers for 1,555 polling booths were deployed during the second phase randomization of officials on poll duty, which was held here on Monday.
The process, done under the aegis of National Informatics Centre using the e-posting software of the Election Commission of India, was held in the presence of district returning officer and District Collector P. K. Sudheer Babu and the General election observer Nitin K. Patel.
Media certification
The Media certification and monitoring committee (MC&MC) has so far cleared as many as 32 advertisement videos to be exhibited through cable channels, social media, and cinemas, sources said.