Chennai, Apr 7 (IANS): The Election Commission of India (ECI) has said that its Suvidha portal has received a total of 73,739 permission requests, of which Tamil Nadu tops the list.

Since the announcement of elections and the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) coming into force, 23,239 permission requests were received from Tamil Nadu, followed by West Bengal ( 11,976) and Madhya Pradesh (10,636).

Of the total requests received, 44,626 had been approved. Around 11,200 requests had been rejected while 10,819 cancelled due to either the invalid nature of the request or duplication, the poll body said.

The Suvidha portal is a technological solution developed by ECI for acting upon requests for permissions and facilities from political parties and candidates during the election period.

The portal caters to requests from political parties for organising rallies, opening temporary offices, door-to-door canvassing, video vans, helicopters, obtaining vehicle permits, and distributing pamphlets.

The Suvidha portal, as per the ECI, ensures transparency by providing real-time tracking of applications, status updates, and communication through SMS.