Mancherial collector says efforts on to ensure free and fair LS polls

Santosh stated that meetings were convened with various political parties and sought their cooperation in peacefully conducting the polls.

Mancherial: Collector Badavath Santosh said that steps were taken to ensure free and fair Lok Sabha polls slated for May 13. He along with Ramagundam Commissioner of Police M Srinivasulu addressed presspersons here on Sunday.

Stating the model code of conduct was in force since announcement of schedule of polls by the Election Commission of India since Saturday itself, Santosh noted that the code would strictly be implemented by having coordination among flying squad, static surveillance, video surveillance, accounting, excise, police and media monitoring and certification teams, formed for smooth conduct of the polls.

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The IAS officer said that a control room was created at the Integrated District Officers Complex to redress grievances and complaints received through android based application, C-Vigil.

He advised citizens to use other applications such as Voter Helpline, Sakhsam, Voter turnout, Voter Portal, Know Your Candidate to learn about electoral rolls and get relevant help.

The district accounted for 6.47 lakh electors, while 3,21,248 were female voters and 3,26,353 were males.

Santosh stated that meetings were convened with various political parties and sought their cooperation in peacefully conducting the polls. He informed that vigil was stepped up to prevent illegal transportation of liquor, unaccounted cash that could be used to influence voters. He said that a watch would be kept on social media platforms. He urged people not to spread misinformation.

Replying to a query, he said that efforts were being made to improve polling percentage by classifying voters into various categories, conducting awareness programmes and by analysing patterns in recent Assembly polls. He added that elaborate arrangements were being made for hassle-free conduct of the polls.

Deputy Commissioner of Police A Ashok Kumar, Additional Collector (Revenue) S Motilal, his counterpart from Local Bodies B Rahul, Special Deputy Collector Chandrakala, Jaipur ACP Venkateshwarlu and many other officials were present.