HYDERABAD: The poll preparedness of the State official machinery is ‘on the right lines’-- was the observation of the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) team which toured the state for two days to assess the poll preparedness in the State following the dissolution of the State Assembly on September 6.
Based on complaints from Opposition parties about deletion of large number of voters from the list, the ECI directed the officials to conduct a door-to-door survey of electoral rolls in the next 15 days.
The team will now submit their report to the ECI based on which a decision would be taken on conducting polls to Telangana Assembly.
Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Umesh Sinha, who led the team, told reporters on Wednesday, before wrapping up the two-day tour : “We have held an all-party meeting on Tuesday. We held discussions with district Collectors, SPs and also with Chief Secretary and DGP on Wednesday. The poll preparedness is on the right lines.
We will submit our report to the ECI after going to Delhi.” Umesh Sinha directed the officials to start door-to-door verification of voters’ lists immediately. “We have received complaints from some parties about deletion of voters or non-inclusion of names of eligible voters. We have instructed the officials to conduct a door-to-door verification and complete the process in the next 15 days. The booth level officers will conduct the survey, while senior officials will check randomly. The booth level polling agents of political parties will also be present and booth-wise electoral rolls would be given to political parties for verification,” Umesh Sinha said.
He assured that the official machinery would take all steps to include names of all the eligible in the electoral rolls. Umesh Sinha said that if there were any wrong deletions in the voters’ lists, they would be restored after the door-to-door verification.
He said the booth level officers (BLOs) would read out the names of voters in each and every village. Officials would tom-tom the intensive revision of voters’ lists in all the villages. The ECI team directed the local officials to ensure that the district-level help lines were active to resolve any complaint within 24 hours. “The IT system will be put in place. The facility of verification of name in the voters’ list through SMS will be provided,’’ he said.
“We have sensed that there will be influence of money. We made some suggestions to the officials on this,” Umesh Sinha added.
DECISION ON VILLAGES MERGED WITH AP: Asked about some villages in Bhadrachalam Assembly segment of Telangana merged with Andhra Pradesh, Umesh Sinha said that some parties have submitted representation on this. It would be taken to the notice of the ECI, which would take a final decision, he said.
16 new posts sanctioned for CEO office
State government on Wednesday sanctioned 16 new posts in the office of the Chief Electoral Office (CEO) for a period of one year. The decision was taken in the wake of forthcoming elections to Assembly. The new posts included additional Chief Electoral Officer, joint/deputy Chief Electoral Officer, assistant secretary, assistant section officer, stores supervisor and others.