Hyderabad: All arrangements are made for the smooth conduct of ensuing Warangal Lok Sabha by election scheduled on November 21.
The Telangana Chief Electoral Officer, Banwar lal said that while 38 candidates had filed their nominations. Out of this, eight candidates have withdrawn their nomination and seven were rejected, leaving 23 candidates in the fray. While three persons were fielded by national parties, one is from regional party, 14 are contesting as independents and remaining are from party’s registered with the Election Commission.
The by election would take place from 7 AM to 5 PM on November 21, for which 15, 09,671 voters are going to exercise their voting rights in about 1778 polling stations. This time, the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) with 16 names of contestants will have their party symbol, name of the candidate and their photograph, Banwar Lal said.
On authentic documents need to be carried to cast votes, he said that the local Booth Level Officers will be visiting door to door and hand over photo voter slips. However, if any one misses in collecting the same could also collect them from the Booth Level Officers present at the polling stations. The commission is trying to cover all polling stations via live web cast and where it is not possible, and then the entire voting process would be video recorded.
The Election Commission of India has appointed three observers to oversee the conduct of elections and poll code violations. Voters aggrieved of any electoral malpractices resorted by anyone could call the observers and lodge their complaint. The names and mobile numbers of the election observers are: Mukesh Kumar (9978407678), Ravindra Reong (9436167797/8131978363) and N Balakrishna (8762302487). Voter can also lodge complaints and grievances by calling a toll free number made available by the Warangal District Administration.
About 150 teams were fanned across different places to check the electoral mal practices and model code violations. And, the election commission has already given a list of star campaigners arriving to canvas their part candidates, and the commission’s machinery would make a strict watch of the campaign trail, the CEO said.
The commission has deployed 20 companies of central forces on security duties to ensure that the elections are held in a peaceful manner. However, 471 problematic polling stations are identified, besides upgrading the security at Bhopalapalli polling station located on the boarder of Telangana and Chhattisgarh.
