HYDERABAD: Out of the 3,826 polling stations in the Hyderabad district, at least one third stations will be watched by the state election commission for any law and order issues in the upcoming Assembly polls. The number of ‘critical’ polling stations has gone up from 1,184 in 2014 Assembly elections to 1,290 this year.
On the directions of the ECI, GHMC and police conducted the survey and according to feedback and intelligence inputs, most of these fall in old city area covering Charminar (162), Chandrayangutta (162), Yakuthpura (170), Bahadrapura (131) constituencies along with Jubilee Hills of the new city which has 103 critical polling booths.
GHMC officials told Express that critical polling centres were identified based on the incidents of violation of the model code of conduct and also the localities where violent incidents or law and order issues arose during 2014 general elections, besides polling stations whose majority votes went to a single candidate.
A security action plan will be prepared with sufficient police force to safe guard the stations. Central officials will be posted as micro-observers at these stations to ensure free and fair election. Also, polling process at these polling stations will be webcast live to the State Chief Electoral Officer as well as the Election Commission of India.