State govt corpn chairman appointees under EC radar

Hyderabad: The appointment of chairmen for different corporations by the State government comes under the scrutiny of the Election Commission, as the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Vikas Raj, has announced he will check with the ECI on the legality of the posts.

The CEO was replying to a question on the appointment of chairmen for various corporations by the government. The state cabinet had taken a decision to have 37 corporations, and there have been no government orders in the public domain so far. With the election code coming into effect in the State, the CEO said that he would check with the Election Commission (EC) of India on the issue of the appointment of the chairmen.

He informed that the commission has come up with a new software for the postal ballot and has the data pertaining to the staff involved in the election process, along with their EPIC card, the option they gave, and the same was incorporated in the software. The list would be generated, and the postal ballot would have to be used before the date of polling. While the polling is on May 13, the postal ballot should be exercised by May 12, the CEO said.

He informed that there were 3.30 crore voters, including eight lakh new voters, who would be utilising their franchise in the Lok Sabha elections. Those above the age of 85 would be provided with the home voting facility. The home voting would start from the date of the withdrawal of nominations. The CEO said that the training process for the officials and other staff involved in the election has been completed. The commission has prepared EVMs and maintained some reserve EVMs. Around 1.5 lakh staff will be used in the election process.

The CEO clarified that individuals cannot carry cash more than Rs 50,000. If the cash is more than Rs 50,000, the authorities would seize it, or else there should be documentation of the money.

The CEO said that the political parties should apply for permission for rallies and public meetings through the Suvidha App. The parties were suggested to organise meetings on holidays and away from crowded areas. No loud speakers would be allowed between 10 pm and 6 am. Children should not be used in the election campaign. Citizens can lodge complaints on the C-Vigil app or by dialling 1950.

Replying to a question, the CEO said that after the Assembly elections, seven lakh corrections were made to the list. As many as 34 lakh votes were deleted during the two and a half years. The bogus votes were removed after the inquiry by the officials. The commission has identified 9,000 polling stations as sensitive. Stating that in about 5,000 polling stations, the voter turnout was low, the commission has focused on finding out the reasons for the low voter turn in these stations.

As per the voters, Malkajgiri is the biggest, and Mahabubabad is the smallest Lok Sabha constituency in the State. Along with the Lok Sabha elections, the process was going on for the Secunderabad Cantonment by poll and the Council election.