SEC to ensure GP polls sans bullying

​Hyderabad: The Telangana State Election Commission (SEC) has instructed the officials of districts concerned to take all measures to prevent intimidation of voters and find out critical pockets for this purpose for the ensuing gram panchayat elections. 

Giving clear instructions to Panchayat Raj officials and District Collectors, the SEC said that in order to ensure free and fair elections to gram panchayats, the SEC wanted to provide an atmosphere in which every voter would be able to access the polling station without being obstructed or being unduly influenced by anybody. 

Reminding that undue influence during elections is an electoral offence under Section 171-C of the IPC, the SEC added that it takes cognizance of the role being played by muscle power in the elections and takes into account certain prevailing socio-economic realities of the electoral politics and wants to ensure free and fair polls. 

The officials should take up an exercise to identify the habitats and segments of electorate vulnerable to any threat, intimidation or interference. The zonal officers for their respective polling stations shall do this exercise by visiting the catchment areas of the polling stations. 

They should identify the source of threat and identify the names of persons who are likely to spearhead such offence. The officials should establish sustainable points of contact within the habitat vulnerable for such undue influence, so that information related to such developments could be tracked constantly. 

The officials should initiate confidence-building measures to bolster the voters' confidence. They should undertake tours to such locations and meet the communities and explain the arrangements made for the free and fair poll. The poll officials should interact with the candidates and representatives of political parties to gather regular feedback. The district intelligence should give regular feedback on the subject to the officers concerned. 

The action plan may include binding over the potential trouble mongers under appropriate sections of the law, preventive detention if required, forcing their appearance in local police stations at reasonable intervals to ensure their good behavior, placement of police pickets, regular confidence building visits etc. 
On the day of poll, the zonal officers should give special attention to verify whether voters from the vulnerable habitats were turning up for voting or not. In case, they find that some section of voters conspicuously absent, then they should inform the Returning Officer about this immediately. 

At the dispatch centres, the presiding officers (POs) should be informed about the vulnerable areas, the POs should submit a report indicating abnormally low percentage of voter turnout if any within any section, and the police patrolling parties should keep track of the gram panchayat-wise vulnerable locations and keep the control room informed. 

All polling stations which are vulnerable should be identified as critical polling stations and all gram panchayats where percentage of poll recorded in more than 75 per cent and where more than 75 per cent of these votes have been recorded in favour of one candidate shall be identified as critical polling stations.