Tirupati district tightens security for free, fair local elections

Tirupati District Collector S. Venkateswar has announced that all arrangements are in place for conducting the ensuing local body elections in a free and fair manner.

Strengthening policing by arranging special deployment in sensitive and violence-prone areas, the district administration has appealed to the voters to exercise their franchise without fear.

Addressing a media conference here on Thursday along with Superintendent of Police L. Subbarayudu, Joint Collector R. Govinda Rao and Tirupati Municipal Corporation (TMC) Commissioner M. Jayakrishna, the Collector said he had reviewed every aspect of the election, including the preparedness of ballot boxes, ballot papers, security at the strong rooms, identification of polling agents, training to the staff on election duty, CCTV and video recording, transportation of ballot boxes after polling etc.

He categorically told the Presiding Officers (PO), Assistant Presiding Officers (APO) and the Other Presiding Officers (OPO) to attend the election duty as scheduled and abstaining from their duty would be viewed seriously.

Hinting at the presence of striking force at select locations to tackle trouble mongers, Mr. Subbarayudu warned the anti-social elements not to meddle with the election process or be prepared to face trouble.

A radius of 100m from the polling station would be thoroughly guarded, with restrictions on entry, lining and lighting arrangements, and as such, any violation will be viewed seriously, he added.

Earlier, the Collector conducted a video conference with officials drawn from revenue, police, municipal administration and rural development to review the arrangements made for the ensuing municipal and MPTC/ZPTC elections.