Poll Campaign Ends on Saturday in Telangana

According to model code of conduct and Election Commission guidelines, Section 144 will be clamped on all Lok Sabha seats in the state. Under this, police would allow only four members to move together. Road shows, public meetings and processions have been banned.

Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Vikas Raj on Saturday said they kept a close vigil on regular issues like seizure of cash, liquor, gold, drugs and freebies and the total seizure crossed Rs 186 crore in Telangana state. The EC has served notices on 13 political party leaders seeking explanations including allowing children in poll campaigns including Prime Minister Narendra Modi's tour in Telangana state and had muted former chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao for 48 hours.

The CEO said 1.88 lakh postal votes have been reported in the state while 21,680 home voting took place in the state. The ECI identified 9,900 critical places in the state and additional forces have been deployed as precautionary measures.

In Hyderabad, the distribution counting and reception ( DRC) centres, where EVMs and VVPATs are stocked, were inspected on Saturday through drones.

The EVMs will reach the polling stations on Sunday evening for Monday’s polling. The 383 critical polling stations identified by the police department in Hyderabad district will be monitored by drones.

There are 15 Assembly segments in Hyderabad district and one drone each will be pressed into service for each one. On Saturday, the third randomization of the polling staff was completed. “The presiding officers (Pos), assistant presiding officers (APOs) and other staff have been assigned to polling stations,” said an official from Hyderabad district election authority.