HYDERABAD: Officials on poll duty found colluding with political parties during the elections would face stringent action, Chief Electoral Officer Rajat Kumar said on Thursday. Participating in the first State-level Telangana Election Watch Meet 2018, he said the role of civil society was crucial in holding free and fair elections.
Civil society, he suggested, should keep a tab on officials and staff posted for election duty. “They need to track movements of these staff to see if there is anything suspicious. If they do find something, it must be brought to the notice of DEO concerned, and also the CEO for further action.”
He said that as many as 1.50 lakh staff and about 70,000 police force will be deployed for the conduct of Assembly elections in Telangana. The second summary electoral rolls, he said, would be released by November 19. He said the voter slips will be distributed through Booth Level Officers (BLOs) to all the voters at their doorsteps.
The process will commence from November 25 and go on till December 1. On the issue EPIC cards to about 26 lakh voters both old and new voters, he said that discussions are being held with the printers, once they are finalised, the EPIC cards would be issued to all the voters, he said.
Make criminal records public, says CEO
Rajat Kumar said that all candidates have to submit affidavits at the time of filing of nominations. They also have to publish their details of criminal antecedents in all leading newspapers 48 hours before polls. “In the previous polls, 67 of 119 candidates had a criminal background,”said TEW convenor Padmanabha Reddy.