Leaders’ help sought for smooth conduct of Mbnr MLC by-election

Rangareddy: Ahead of the Mahabubnagar MLC by-elections, the District Collector, K Shashank, held a meeting with the representatives of different political parties on Wednesday at the District Collectorate in Kongarakalan.

Explaining that the Central Election Commission released the schedule for the proposed MLC by election of Mahabubnagar local bodies on February 26, the Collector informed that the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) came into effect on the same day, while the notification will be released on March 4.

“Following the release of the election schedule, the MCC came into effect immediately in eight districts that include Mahabubnagar, Narayanapet, Jogulamba Gadwala, Nagarkurnol, Vanaparthi, Vikarabad, and Rangareddy within the jurisdiction of the Mahabubnagar Local Bodies Constituency Legislative Council,” the collector explained.

According to the schedule, a by-election notification will be issued on March 4. Similarly, the last date for filing nominations would be March 11. A scrutiny of nominations will be held on March 12, and candidates will be able to withdraw their nominations by March 14. As per the schedule, the polling will be held from 8 am to 4 pm on March 28, followed by the counting of votes on April 2. The schedule stipulated that the election process will be completed by April 4,” the official elaborated.

He further said that there are a total of 171 voters in the 10 mandals of that MLC constituency, which include Amangal, Farooqnagar, Keshampet, Kondurg, Kothur, Madgul, Talakondlapally, Choudargudem, Nandigama, and Kadthal. To facilitate the voters, a polling station is being established in the Mandal Praja Parishad (MPP) Office at Shadnagar. As such, these mandals too will have MCCs until the completion of the by-elections.

The provisions of MCC, the establishment of a flying squad, surveillance teams were completed, and responsibilities were conferred to the designated officials and staff. FST, SST, and VT teams are also being formed in the district.

The Collector told the representatives of the political parties to cooperate with the officials in conducting free and fair elections without indulging in code violations. Apart from this, a toll-free number will also be released to address issues pertaining to election arrangements and processes.

Apart from representatives of political parties like Mohammad Abul Bari, Jahingir Khan, and Sai Teja from Congress party and Y N Jagadishwar from the BRS party, concerned election officials also participated in the meeting.