UP government takes steps to ensure smooth, safe panchayat polls

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh government will stress on instilling a sense of confidence among the voters to ensure smooth conduct of the "sensitive panchayat" elections in September-October.

"The coming panchayat elections are very sensitive in nature and directions have been issued to senior officials to win over the trust of voters by going in their midst among other things," Principal Secretary (Home) Devashish Panda said here today.

The officials have been asked to review booth-wise sensitivity, find out the history of incidents taking place inthe past booth-wise as also their present status besides the background of former and present candidates, he said after holding a high-level meeting to review the preparations for the Panchayat polls.

Panda said that since major festivals like Janmashtami, Bakrid, Navratri and Dussehra fall in September-October, the challenge was all the more high for the police force to get panchayat elections done smoothly