Hyderabad: District Election Officer, GHMC Commissioner Ronald Rose said that the district administration is ready with all the arrangements for conducting the polling for the parliamentary elections and Secunderabad Cantonment Assembly by-elections to be held on May 13 in the district.
District Electoral Officer Ronald Rose, CP Srinivas Reddy along with Hyderabad Secunderabad Parliament Constituency Returning Officers Anudeep Durishetti and Hemant Keshav Patil held a meeting with the media representatives on the arrangements for polling on Tuesday in the background of the parliamentary elections.
The District Election Officer made this remark while revealing that the preparations are well underway for the forthcoming elections. He stated that there are a total of 45,91,201 voters in the constituency, of which 23,38,857 are male voters, 22,52,008 are female voters and 336 are third gender voters. He said that a total of 3986 polling booths are established in the district and webcasting is done in all the booths. He continued by saying that the relevant personnel and equipment were in place for the holding of the elections.
1250 central government employees have been appointed as micro observers and given training. He said that they will send information to the election observers and that a woman polling officer has been assigned in every polling booth.
It is stated that 16,776 people have applied for postal ballot in the district and so far 9,266 people have exercised their right to vote through postal ballot. Facilitation centers will be kept open on May 9 and 10 for those who could not use the postal ballot on the last date till 8th of this month and they are advised to use this opportunity.
Cash, other valuables and illicit liquor worth Rs.38,55,72,637/- have been seized in the district so far. 4,12,03,655/- in cash and other items have been released by DGC so far. It is stated that Rs 1,52,64,160/- for cash and other items have been sent to the Income Tax and Commercial Tax Departments for further action.
Polling staff will be provided free transport facility on May 12 and 13. The DEO explained that arrangements are being made to ensure that medical staff and medical kit are available at each location. He said that even if the polling staff face any problems due to the heat of the sun, a help line will be set up in the head office and they will go to the incident site from here and treat them.
Hyderabad CP Srinivas Reddy said that all measures are being taken to ensure that the polling is conducted smoothly and peacefully. He said that three-tier security arrangements are being made at DRC, Strong Rooms, and Counting Centers and campaign activities are prohibited from 5:00 PM on May 11.
Section 144 will remain in force in the district until the elections are over, he said. He said that strict security arrangements are being made at problematic polling centers and full measures are being taken to ensure that elections are held in a free atmosphere.
