HYDERABAD: In the view of the recent Telangana High Court directions on the conduct of polls to municipalities and municipal corporations, Telangana Election Commissioner V Nagi Reddy asked the District Collectors to be prepared for conducting the polls for the urban local bodies (ULB) as the election notification will be issued by the State Election Commission (SEC) at any time. The pending cases before the High Court where stay was granted will come up for hearing on October 31. The TSEC would hold polls to as many as 120 municipalities and nine municipal corporations in the State. Polls would be conducted for about 3,103 wards for which 8,056 polling stations have been identified.
In connection with the polls, Nagi Reddy on Tuesday held a video conference with the District Collectors, Municipal Commissioners and other officials concerned on the preparations for conducting polls. He directed the officials concerned to make all arrangements that are required for the smooth conduct the polls.
He also asked the district election authorities to be ready with the voters’ list and to make all required arrangements at the polling stations.
No poll for Meerpet
There would be no election to Meerpet municipal corporation as Meerpet and Jillelaguda municipalities were merged and a separate Meerpet municipal corporation was formed. The government is yet to come up with revised ward numbers, fix the boundaries and prepare the electoral rolls.
Meanwhile, the SEC has fixed poll expenditure for candidates contesting in the municipality polls at `1 lakh and for those contesting in the municipal corporations at `1.50 lakh. The SEC had already asked the eligible voters who completed 18 years by January 1 this year to ensure that their names are registered in the electoral rolls so that they can be carried to the electoral rolls of the municipal bodies concerned.
“Mere possession of an EPIC card or the fact that you may have voted in the recently held elections does not entitle you to vote in the municipal elections unless your name is enrolled in the electoral roll specifically prepared for the municipal elections,” the SEC said.