Elaborate arrangements in place for polling in Telugu States

Hyderabad: Elaborate arrangements have been made by the Election Commission of India and local authorities for the conduct of elections for 17 Lok Sabha constituencies in Telangana State and 25 Lok Sabha seats in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh where people will also cast their vote for 175-member Assembly on Thursday.

In Andhra Pradesh, nearly 3.93 crore voters will decide the fate of 319 candidates for Lok Sabha seats and 2,118 candidates in Assembly polls. A total of 46,120 polling stations have been established across 13 districts. More than 55,000 police personnel, 60 companies of Andhra Pradesh Special Police (APSP), 5,666 personnel from other states and 197 companies of the Central Armed Police Forces have been deployed.

In Telangana, as many as 443 candidates are in fray for 17 Parliamentary seats and their fate will be decided by nearly 2.97 crore voters. As many as 34,603 polling stations have been set up and besides 55,946 personnel of Telangana Police, 9,700 personnel from other states, 145 companies of central armed forces and 25 companies of Telangana State Special Police have been deployed for security purposes.

Nizamabad Lok Sabha constituency will be entering the record books with a record number of candidates and maximum number of EVMs. A total of 185 candidates including 178 farmers are in fray, and 12 Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) will be used in each polling booth. A total of 1,788 polling stations have set up wherein 27,000 ballot units will be available. Nearly 30,000 personnel have been deployed which include 15 officers and staff for each polling booth.

Mock polling will be held from 6 to 8 am on Thursday and polling in Nizamabad will be held from 8 am to 6 pm. For the first time, elections are being held with A3 type EVMs.