Preparations have been completed for the May 29 gram panchayat election in Hassan and Mandya districts.
Polling booths were allotted on Thursday to government employees assigned with the poll duty. They reached their respective polling booths, along with election-related materials, including ballot box and ballot paper, by Thursday evening. In all, 254 gram panchayats are going for polls in Hassan district. Police have tightened security to prevent any untoward incidents during the election.
The district administration has set up 1,769 polling stations in Hassan district and appointed 6,575 officials for poll duty.
The polling officers for booths in Hassan taluk have been asked to assemble at the Government Arts College here, the mustering centre. The district administration has hired Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation buses and some privates vehicles to carry the officials to their respective polling booths.
Police have deployed additional police force in remote areas of Sakleshpur taluk, where movement of suspected Maoists had been noticed. Superintendent of Police Raman Gupta told presspersons here on Thursday that policemen of Sakleshpur conducted thorough combing operations in remote places of the taluk, in view of the elections. Circle Inspector and Sub-Inspectors of the taluk were leading the combing operations.
In Chikkamagaluru district, elections are being held for 217 gram panchayats. The district administration has exercised maximum care to ensure smooth and peaceful polling in the Naxal-affected areas in Koppa, Mudigere and Sringeri taluks. The district administration has drawn Kerala police personnel for poll duty in naxal-affected areas.
Preparations completed
Mandya Staff Correspondent reports: Campaigning for gram panchayat election ended on Thursday, paving way for the D-Day on Friday, when elections are being held for the 3,826 posts in 230 gram panchayats in Mandya district.
Meanwhile, 8,328 contestants, including 3,875 women, were left in the fray. The district administration has made elaborate arrangements for the gram panchayat elections. Of the 1,694 polling booths in the district, 389 have been identified as sensitive and 325 as hypersensitive.
The officials assigned with the election duty on Thursday handed over the ballot boxes and other materials to the officials concerned at mustering centres.
Brisk activities and last-minute preparations by polling officials were seen at the Government College (autonomous), off Bangalore-Mysuru highway, in Mandya, S.K. Veeranna Gowda College at Maddur, Government PU colleges at Malavalli, Srirangapatna and Nagamangala, PSSK College at Pandavapura and Government Polytechnic at K.R. Pet.
After verification, the polling officials went to election booths by the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) buses. Mandya Deputy Commissioner M.N. Ajay Nagabhushan and other officials visited the mustering centres and supervised the dispatch of materials to all polling stations.
The KSRTC has cancelled several trips on regular routes. Over 250 buses have been hired by the district administration for election duty. Polling will commence at 7 a.m. and end at 5 p.m.
