District Collector S. Suresh Kumar on Monday said that arrangements for polling in Narsaraopet division and the newly carved out Gurazala division are nearing completion. Election to 299 gram sarpanch posts and 2,696 ward members was being held on July 31.
Addressing a coordination meeting held at Narsaraopet, Mr. Suresh Kumar said that 20 mandals in the division have been identified as sensitive and patrolling would be intensified to prevent any untoward incident in the division.
The polls in faction ridden Narsaraopet and Gurazala division have been marred by violent incidents in the past. Faction politics have reared their ugly head time and again until the 2006 elections, but since then polling has been relatively peaceful.
The general elections in 2009 were relatively peaceful. Superintendent of Police, Guntur Rural, J. Satyanarayana said that in addition to the local police, a battalion of paramilitary forces and a battalion from Karnataka has been pressed into service. The S.P warned that police would deal sternly against any one indulging in malpractices during the elections.
Joint Collector D. Muralidhar Reddy, Revenue Divisional Officer of Narsaraopet P. Srinivasa Rao, RDO, Gurazala Murali, DSPs Venkatarami Reddy (Narsaraopet) and I. Pooja (Gurazala) were present.
