Election Commission's eagle eye on Huzurabad

Hyderabad: In the wake of Huzurabad bypoll becoming a prestige issue for the two main parties the TRS and the BJP, the Election Commission is going to lay greater focus on the constituency to ensure that the kind of incidents that were witnessed during the Dubbaka byelection are not repeated.

It may be mentioned here that the BJP had already complained to the EC that the ruling party had already started distributing huge amounts of money and liquor soon after the announcement of the poll schedule. The TRS leaders on the other hand alleged that the BJP was resorting to cheap tactics as it has seen the writing on the wall.

In the backdrop of this situation and the experience like the incidents of clashes that were witnessed during electioneering for the Dubbaka bypoll, the EC has decided to lay special focus on Huzurabad constituency.

The EC has sought a report from State Chief Electoral Officer Shashank Goyal on the campaign by the parties in the constituency. The EC feels that there was every possibility of law and order problems arising in some villages in the poll-bound constituency. As the campaign would now gain greater momentum, the possibility of making provocative statements by leaders cannot be ruled out.

The war of words between BJP candidate Eatala Rajender and TRS leaders has already reached a crescendo. Now, every movement of the party campaigners would be under close watch. Election authorities said the movement of the outsiders in the Assembly would also be monitored closely.

Top sources said that soon after the State electoral authorities send a report, the Election Commission would deploy special teams to the Assembly segment to monitor the situation closely. Generally, the Commission sends two or three poll observers to the constituency to monitor the situation. But this time, a team of 5 to 6 observers would be sent to Huzurabad to oversee the bypoll arrangements as well as the poll expenditure being incurred by the contestants. The district officials have been asked to identify the sensitive and hyper-sensitive polling booths among the 309 booths in the Assembly segment.