A total of 10,661 polling staff and as many as 4,000 police personnel will be on duty to conduct municipal elections in a peaceful manner in Visakhapatnam district on Wednesday.
The polls are being held in 148 wards, including 98 in Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC), 22 in Yelamanchali and 28 in Narsipatnam, District Collector V. Vinay Chand said on Tuesday.
He said that as many as 18,05, 311 voters, including 9,00,756 women, were expected to cast their vote in 1,812 polling stations, including 1, 712 in GVMC limits, 44 in Yelamanchali and 56 in Narsipatnam.
A total of 566 candidates in GVMC, 62 in Yelamanchali and 78 in Narsipatnam municipality are contesting the polls. The Collector said that all arrangements have been made for the polls which will commence at 7 a.m. and end by 5 p.m. on Wednesday.
Addressing a press conference at the GVMC office here on Tuesday, Mr. Vinay Chand said that out of 1,812 polling stations, 693 polling stations, including 654 in GVMC, were identified as hyper-sensitive and 276, including 240 in GVMC limits, were identified as sensitive. Every polling station will be having a police personnel. In case of hyper sensitive and sensitive locations, apart from tight police security, micro observers are being deployed. Videography and webcasting will be done. “We have trained about 570 micro observers for the purpose,” he said.
He said that Model Code of Conduct (MCC) teams have been doubled, apart from arranging 60 static surveillance teams in GVMC limits, five in Narsipatnam and four in Yelamanchali. They will continue to monitor entire election process till the closure of the poll.
The Collector said that they have appointed a Zonal Magistrate for each ward in the GVMC limits. The Zonal Magistrates are fully empowered to register cases and take appropriate action against any irregularities in their routes, he said.
Voter slips
The Collector also said that voter slip distribution process was completed for about 86.8 % in GVMC limits. “Similarly, in Yelamanchali, we have completed distribution of about 86.9% slips and in Narsipatnam, it stands at about 91 %.While distributing slips, a number of houses were locked while many residents changed their addresses,” he stated.
“A person who did not receive voter slip need not worry and there is no mandatory requirement for the voter slip. If he/she did not receive voter slip, they can directly go to the polling station with his or her voter card. But they should also carry any of the 20 documents prescribed by the Election Commission. The 20 documents include Aadhaar card, Passport, Driving Licence, PAN card, Pension documents, pattadar passbook with picture, ration card with photograph, ATM cards with photographs and ID cards given to freedom fighters,” he added.
He said that all arrangements were made for women and elderly persons to cast their vote. Ramps were set up for the convenience of differently-abled. Similarly visually challenged voters can bring an assistant to cast their vote.
“Last time when the municipal polls were held in Visakhapatnam in 2007, the poll percentage was just 52. We request every voter to come forward and cast his vote this time,” Mr. Vinay Chand said.
Police Commissioner Manish Kumar Sinha and Superintendent of Police B. Krishna Rao also spoke about the security arrangements.
GVMC Commissioner S. Nagalakshmi was present.
