Karimnagar gears up for municipal polls under tight security
Elaborate arrangements have been made for municipal elections across Karimnagar, Ramagundam, Jagtial and Rajanna-Sircilla districts. Polling will be held in 13 municipalities and two municipal corporations, with over 7 lakh voters eligible to cast their ballots.
Karimnagar: Elaborate arrangements have been made for the elections to municipalities and municipal corporations in the erstwhile Karimnagar district.
Elections will be held in 13 municipalities and two municipal corporations on Wednesday. Polling will take place from 7 am to 5 pm. Besides arrangements for webcasting, CCTV cameras have been installed at critical polling stations.
Polling staff reached their respective polling stations on Tuesday after collecting election material from distribution centres.
In Karimnagar, elections will be held for three municipalities, Choppadandi, Jammikunta and Huzurabad, besides the Karimnagar Municipal Corporation. Collector Pamela Satpathy visited the distribution centres and reviewed the process.
A total of 477 polling stations have been established across 66 divisions of the Karimnagar Municipal Corporation, where 3,40,580 voters, including 1,70,858 women and 1,69,679 men, are eligible to exercise their franchise.
As many as 389 candidates are in the fray. While 14 polling stations have been identified as sensitive, five have been developed as model polling stations. Karimnagar Municipal Corporation Commissioner Praful Desai is overseeing the arrangements for the corporation polls.
Besides the Ramagundam Municipal Corporation, polling will be held for three municipalities, Peddapalli, Manthani and Sultanabad, in Peddapalli district.
Except for one division declared unanimous in the Ramagundam Municipal Corporation, polling will be held for 123 wards in the three municipalities. As many as 470 candidates are contesting. Officials have set up 407 polling centres. Collector Koya Sree Harsha inspected the arrangements.
In Jagtial district, elections will be held for 136 wards in Jagtial, Dharmapuri, Raikal, Korutla and Metpally municipalities. A total of 379 polling stations have been set up to enable 2,31,627 voters to cast their votes.
As many as 455 polling officers, an equal number of assistant polling officers and 1,637 staff have been deployed to conduct the elections. Collector B Satyaprasad reviewed the arrangements by visiting the distribution centres.
Polling will be held for 67 wards in Sircilla and Vemulawada municipalities in Rajanna-Sircilla district. A total of 175 polling stations have been established to facilitate 1,22,836 voters. Twenty-seven returning officers and assistant returning officers, 210 presiding officers and 630 other polling personnel have been deployed.
In-charge Collector Garima Agarwal inspected the arrangements. Meanwhile, the police have made tight security arrangements to ensure peaceful conduct of the municipal elections. Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Section 163, earlier Section 144, will be in force from 6 am on Tuesday to 6 am on Thursday.
