Hyderabad: All arrangements made for holding polls in city

Hyderabad: Prior to the Lok Sabha elections, Hyderabad District Election Officer Ronald Rose, Hyderabad city police Commissioner K Sreenivasa Reddy, and Returning Officers Anudeep Durishetti and Hemant Keshav Patil confirmed that all necessary arrangements have been made to ensure the peaceful and fair conduct of the parliamentary and Secunderabad Cantonment Assembly by-elections scheduled for May 13.

Moreover, to ensure a free and fair polling process, webcasting facilities will be provided at all 1,944 polling stations in the Hyderabad segment.

The DEO said that the arrangements have been completed in view of the upcoming elections for Hyderabad and Secunderabad Parliament constituencies and Secunderabad Cantonment Assembly constituencies in Hyderabad District. Ronald Rose said over 30 candidates are contesting for the Hyderabad Parliamentary constituency, 45 candidates for the Secunderabad Parliamentary constituency, and 15 candidates for the Secunderabad Cantonment Assembly constituency.

According to the DEO, there are a total of 45,91,201 voters in the two constituencies of Hyderabad district. Among them, male voters number 23,38,857, female voters comprise 22,52,008, and there are 336 voters of the third gender. Greater Hyderabad is equipped with a total of 3,986 polling stations. A total of 16,776 individuals have applied for postal ballots, with 9,266 having already cast their votes through this method.

Ronald Rose informed that for the elections, as many as 1,250 Central government employees have been appointed as micro observers, and a woman polling officer has been assigned to every polling booth. To address the intense heat, arrangements have been made to provide essential amenities at all polling booths, including drinking water, medical camps, and shaded seating areas with tents. Additionally, medical teams and medical kits will be stationed at each polling station.

The Voter Information Slips (VIS) and voter information booklet are being distributed, and stickers are being pasted door-to-door. Ronald Rose elucidated that on polling day, the ‘PollQ Route’ app can be utilised to track the queue status of voters standing at polling stations.

As per DEO, so far, cash, liquor, and other valuables worth Rs 38,55,72,637 have been seized, and Rs 4,12,03,655 in cash and other items have been released by DGC. Rs 1,52,64,160 in cash and other items have been sent to the Income Tax and Commercial Tax Departments for further action.

Moreover, Sreenivasa Reddy said that three-tier security arrangements are being made at DRC, strong rooms, and counting centres and police will make sure that campaign activities are prohibited from 5 pm on May 11. Section 144 will remain in force in the district until the elections are over, he said.