Chief Secretary L.V. Subrahmanyam has instructed the Collectors and SPs to take steps for the conduct of elections in a fair manner and strictly comply with the guidelines of the Election Commission of India (ECI).
Addressing the Collectors and SPs through a video-conference on Sunday, he asserted that observance of the poll code was crucial and at no point of time should the officials concerned be complacent in implementing it. Mr. Subrahmanyam said focus should be laid on curbing the flow of money and liquor, for which the district-level teams should be on high alert. He called for prompt action against those violating the code.
The Chief Secretary said there were up to 30 highly sensitive polling stations, where the officials should be on their toes to avert any untoward incident. Polling stations should be made easily accessible to the elderly, pregnant women and physically challenged, he added.
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DGP R.P. Thakur said ₹106 crore had so far been seized and 3,309 cases of violation were registered. He said orders had been issued to intensify checking of vehicles. Chief Electoral Officer Gopal Krishna Dwivedi asked the Collectors to send proposals on the counting centres by April 8 to facilitate their transportation and protection.
Special Chief Secretary (Excise) D. Sambasiva Rao, Principal Secretaries A.R. Anuradha (Home) and M. Ravi Chandra (Finance), Secretary (GAD) N. Srikant and Additional DGP (L&O) Ravi Sankar Ayyanar were among those present.