HYDERABAD: The notification for bypolls to the 18 Assembly and one Lok Sabha (Nellore) seat will be issued on Friday. The respective returning officers will issue notices in Form-1 inviting nominations.Receipt of nomination papers will commence at 11 am on Friday and will be accepted till 3 pm of May 25, except on public holidays.Speaking to reporters, chief electoral officer (CEO), Bhanwarlal, along with senior police officials, convened a video conference with 12 district election officers and superintendents of police and reviewed the preparedness for the bypolls and deployment of forces.The CEO issued instructions for strict implementation of model code of conduct and maintenance of law and order in the 12 districts. Scrutiny of nominations will be held on May 26, withdrawal on May 27 and 28 and the elections will be held on June 12.Counting of votes will take place on June 15.Later, Bhanwarlal held an all-party meeting with representatives of registered political parties in his chambers at the Secretariat. It was attended by B Kamalakar Rao and C Uma Malleshwara Rao (Congress), Varla Ramaiah and K Janardhan Rao (TDP), Sraavan Dasoju (TRS), D Pradeep Kumar (BJP), Y Venkateswara Rao (CPM) and others. The political parties complained about distribution of money and liquor, enrolment of bogus voters, misuse of official machinery and running of belt shops.Varla Ramaiah complained to the CEO that the minister for roads and buildings D Prasada Rao is using official bungalow in Srikakulam for camping and turned it into a campaign centre and reportedly threatened district officials with dire consequences if they object.Ramaiah said if the minister fails to vacate the bungalow by Friday, the TDP workers will barge in and throw him out. The CEO told the TDP leader that he would direct the district collector to take action immediately.TRS leader Shravan Dasoju complained that YSRC candidate Konda Surekha enrolled over 8,000 bogus voters in Parkal Assembly constituency and wanted the CEO to remove those names.Venkateswara Rao wanted to keep a vigil on the flow of money and liquor.He suggested that liquor shops should closed one week ahead of polls, instead of 48 hours.Kamalakar Rao said there should be no telecast of opinion polls and surveys in the media.The opinion polls which are shown are the opinions of political leaders who own TV channels and vernacular dailies. They should be treated as paid news. Since the schedule for bypolls was announced, Rs 14.50 crore has been seized, 1,891 persons arrested in 7,079 cases, non-bailable warrants issued against 507, 19,036 persons were bound over, 2,457 arms deposited with police or licence cancelled, 1.08 lakh litres of liquor was seized.The CEO told collectors and SPs of the 12 districts where elections are due to close liquor shops 48 years before the elections and check vehicles thoroughly. For the peaceful conduct of elections, 23 general observers have been appointed.They will tour constituencies from May 25 to June 15.The CEO said the Election Commission has agreed to allot 118 companies of Central armed forces as against the request for 139 companies. The remaining forces would be sanctioned soon, he added.
Comments
0 comment