Deputy Commissioner M.N. Ajay Nagabhushan said that the district administration has made all preparations for the smooth conduct of polling scheduled on Saturday to 41 zilla panchayat seats and 155 taluk panchayat constituencies in the district.
Addressing a press conference with Additional Superintendent of Police M. Puttamadaiah here on Thursday, Mr. Nagabhushan, who is also the district election officer, said the district administration would set up 1,562 polling booths in the district. Of them, 171 booths have been identified as hypersensitive, 220 as sensitive and 1,171 as normal.
A total of 176 candidates are in the fray for the zilla panchayat polls and 510 are contesting taluk panchayat seats. In all, 12,68,254 persons will vote in the elections.
The district administration has deputed 8,592 government personnel, including 1,562 polling officers and 1,562 presiding officials, to monitor voting. It has hired 210 videographers to keep tab on the violation of election code of conduct, Mr. Nagabhushan said. According to the officer, 3,037 polling officials have already received postal ballots in the district. The department will tighten security arrangements to ensure smooth and peaceful polling, Mr. Puttamadaiah said.
He added that 4,349 police personnel, including one Superintendent of Police, one Additional Superintendent of Police, five Deputy Superintendents of Police, 14 police inspectors, 47 Sub-Inspectors and 58 Assistant Sub-Inspectors, will be assigned.
In addition, 15 District Armed Reserve (DAR) and six Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP) platoons will be deployed across the district.