HYDERABAD: All arrangements are in place for the Jubilee Hills byelection on Tuesday, where 58 candidates are in the fray, excluding the NOTA option.
As many as 407 polling stations have been set up across 139 locations in the constituency, with 3,000 polling staff and 1,761 police personnel deployed to ensure the smooth conduct of the polls.
A three-tier security system has been put in place, and live webcasting will be carried out from all polling stations. Of the 407 stations, 226 have been identified as critical, where paramilitary forces will be deployed. Polling will be held from 7 am to 6 pm. The constituency has 4,01,365 voters, including 2,08,561 males, 1,92,779 females, and 25 others.
Counting of votes will take place on November 14 in 10 rounds, for which 42 counting tables have been arranged.
Mobile deposit counters have been set up at all polling stations to enable voters to deposit their mobile phones. Help desks have also been provided at all locations to assist voters. NCC volunteers will manage queues, while ramps, wheelchairs, and other Assured Minimum Facilities (AMFs) have been arranged for PwD voters, including transportation to polling stations.
The average number of voters per polling station is 986. There are 11 polling stations with more than 1,200 voters. The lowest number of voters is at PS-263 (540), while the highest is at PS-9 (1,233).
Given the large number of candidates, each polling station will have one Control Unit (CU), four Ballot Units (BUs), and one Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machine.
In total, 826 CUs, 2,494 BUs, and 831 VVPATs have been arranged. Election material has been distributed from the Distribution, Reception and Counting (DRC) Centre at Kotla Vijayabhaskar Reddy Stadium, Yousufguda, to the respective polling stations. As many as 40 ECIL engineers and technicians have been deployed to handle any contingencies.
Nearly 230 rowdy-sheeters have been bound over as a precautionary measure.
The byelection was necessitated by the death of sitting BRS MLA Maganti Gopinath earlier this year.