All arrangements made for polls, says Nizamabad Collector

According to DEO and Collector Rajeev Gandhi Hanumanthu, a total of 1549 polling centers have been set up in 833 areas within the six assembly constituencies

Nizamabad: The district administration has made elaborate arrangements of polling officials and security forces for smooth functioning of elections process in the district for Thursday’s polls.

According to District Election Officer and Collector Rajeev Gandhi Hanumanthu, a total of 1549 polling centers have been set up in 833 areas within the six assembly constituencies- Nizamabad Urban, Nizamabad Rural, Bodhan, Banswada, Armoor and Balkonda segments.

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There are 13,94,986 voters in the six constituencies falling in the district and of them 17,393 of the voters are above 80 years of age, 23,919 are persons with more than 40 percent disability and 47,639 voters aged between 18 and 19-years, who will be voting for the first time, he said, adding that as many as 77 candidates would be contesting the elections in six segments of the district. As 21 candidates would be contesting in Nizamabad Urban segment, two ballot units would be used during polling, he said.

So far 2248 people in the district have exercised their vote under the vote from home provision, and another 50 people have exercised their vote in the category of emergency services, he said, adding that 7215 people participating in election duties in the district and 648 people performing duties in other districts exercised their vote through postal ballot.

A total of 412 counting staff have been appointed keeping 25 percent additional staff in reserve as per the instructions of the Election Commission of India(ECI) in order to be able to count the votes in the six assembly segments round wise, he said. According to the number of polling centers in the district, Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) have been moved to the respective constituency centers through randomization and kept in strong rooms, the collector said.

In order to make quick arrangements in the event of EVMs developing technical snags during the polling, 2352 additional (reserve) ballot units, 1957 control units have been allocated, and 40 percent more Voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) have been added and a total of 2186 have been sent to various centres, he said. About 1864 Polling Officers, 1867 Assistant Polling Officers, 3727 Other Polling Officers and a total of 7458 people have been allocated for polling duties through randomisation, he informed.

According to Nizamabad Police Commissioner Kalmeswar Shingenavar, as many as 3500 police personnel and 1200 central forces have been deployed to conduct the elections in a peaceful atmosphere. Apart from this about 250 patrolling parties, Quick Reaction Teams (QRT), Striking Force and Special Striking Teams have been formed and arrangements have been made for strict enforcement of the Election Code of Conduct, he said.