'Ensure free and fair MLC elections'

Ongole (Prakasam district): Teachers and graduates MLC election observers Kona Sasidhar and Katamneni Bhaskar conducted a special training programme for the micro-observers of Prakasam and Bapatla districts at Spandana Hall at the Collectorate here on Monday. They advised the district administrators to take measures to conduct the MLC elections in a free and fair atmosphere.

Speaking at the meeting, K Bhaskar said that the micro-observers are the eyes and ears of the Election Commission for conducting the elections smoothly. He advised them to go through the instructions issued by the Commission thoroughly and inform the higher officials if they observe any discrepancies and violations in conducting the election. He asked them to reach their polling station a day early, observe the local stations and stay there for the night.

Sasidhar advised the election staff to perform their duties efficiently and asked them to respect the presiding officers and don't give any trouble to them. He said that prompt response from the micro-observers is anticipated, and if they observe any lapses in the arrangements and security, they should be immediately addressed and also brought to the notice of the superiors.

Prakasam district Collector AS Dinesh Kumar and Bapatla district Collector Vijaya Krishnan explained to the observers the arrangements already made, training given to the POs and APOs, etc. Prakasam SP Malika Garg and Bapatla SP Vakul Jindal explained to them the security arrangements planned for the smooth conduct of the elections.

Bapatla Joint Collector K Srinivasulu, Prakasam Additional SP K Nageswara Rao, Prakasam DRO B Chinna Obulesu, Bapatla DRO Lakshmi Sivajyothi, Markapuram Sub-Collector Sethu Madhavan and other officers also participated in the training programme.