Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Vikas Raj on Sunday said all preparations were under way for the smooth conduct of polling for the Telangana State Assembly elections on November 30 (Thursday).
Home voting facility for citizens aged over 80 years and persons with disabilities has been completed, with about 26,600 voters using the service. About 1,000 other voters have also registered for the Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System.
According to Mr.Vikas Raj, who addressed mediapersons at BRKR Bhavan here, there are 2,068 male candidates, 221 female candidates and one third gender candidate in the fray.
“No fewer than 2.5 lakh personnel from all the departments will be part of election duty [on polling day]. About 1.85 lakh personnel are being deployed as the polling party and another 22,000 personnel will be micro-observers,” he said.
About 23,500 home guards from Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh will join 45,000 personnel from Telangana police and 50 companies of the State Special Police. A total of 375 companies of the Central Armed Police Forces will also be present.
Mr. Vikas Raj said seizures worth ₹709 crore were made during the poll period till Sunday. This includes a seizure of ₹282 crore in cash and liquor worth ₹118 crore. The police have also registered FIRs under corresponding provisions.
As per the media certification and monitoring committee (MCMC), 37 news articles were confirmed as ‘paid news’, and 120 web links were removed from social media platforms for election code violations.
Distribution of polling material will be taken up by District Election Officers starting Wednesday. Utmost priority is given to the security of electronic voting machines, their custody, care and transport in closed vehicles. All such vehicles will be GPS-enabled, he said.
As per local assessment, for the polling on Thursday, the State has 12,000 critical polling stations. Local police and the administration have been instructed for advanced measures at critical polling stations and segments anticipating close contests, Mr.Vikas Raj informed.
