ONGOLE: The district administration has completed arrangements for the ZPTC and MPTC elections to be held on Thursday. Of the 27 ZPTC seats, two have already been elected unanimously, while 151 of the 371 MPTC seats were decided uncontested.
Addressing a press conference at the Collectorate Command and Control Centre on Wednesday, District Collector P Rajababu, along with Joint Collector Kalpana Kumari and ZP CEO Chiranjeevi, outlined the poll preparations.
The Collector said polling will be conducted at 1,265 polling stations located in 714 centres across the district. A total of 10,70,902 voters, including 5,30,739 men, 5,40,137 women and 26 others, are eligible to cast their votes.
As many as 8,908 polling personnel, including presiding officers, assistant presiding officers and other polling staff, have been deployed. The administration has appointed 81 special officers, comprising 27 returning officers and 54 assistant returning officers.
Of the polling stations, 362 have been identified as sensitive and 379 as highly sensitive, while 524 fall under the normal category. Polling materials have been dispatched to the respective stations, and 414 micro-observers will report for duty on polling day.
The Collector said webcasting and CCTV arrangements have been made at all polling stations, particularly at sensitive and highly sensitive centres. Officials, with technical support from IIIT students, will monitor polling activities from the Command and Control Centre. Strict action will be taken against anyone involved in illegal or violent activities, he warned.
Superintendent of Police V Harshavardhan Raju said 2,391 police personnel have been deployed to ensure peaceful and fair polling. Security arrangements include 34 striking force teams, two ASPs, six DSPs, 26 Circle Inspectors and a special force headed by 25 CIs. A total of 141 mobile patrol teams have also been deployed across Ongole, Darsi and Kandukur divisions.
The SP said police booked 23 cases related to unlawful activities, registered 48 cases involving liquor, and seized 187.37 litres of liquor and `2.8 lakh in unaccounted cash. As a preventive measure, 739 rowdy-sheeters and 974 others were bound over.