The Expenditure observer, Sanjeev Kumar Lal, has directed officials to meticulously record and account for every rupee spent by candidates during the Jubilee Hills Assembly constituency by-election campaign. He emphasised that all campaign-related expenditures must be accurately entered into the respective candidate’s expenditure register.

On Wednesday, the Expenditure Observer conducted a surprise inspection at the GHMC Head Office, reviewing the functioning of key election monitoring facilities, including the Media Certification and Monitoring Committee (MCMC), the Electronic Media Monitoring Room, the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) Control Room, the 1950 Complaint Centre, and the Social Media Monitoring Cell. He expressed satisfaction with their operations.

Sanjeev Kumar instructed officials to keep a close watch on campaign rallies, public meetings, road shows, advertisements and paid news appearing in the media. He stressed that all such activities must be video-recorded, and the related expenditure recorded on a daily basis in official registers.

During the inspection, MCC Nodal Officer Narasimha Reddy, MCMC Member Secretary Mamindla Dasharatham, and 24x7 Control Room OSD Anuradha briefed the Expenditure Observer on the functioning of the respective monitoring centres. Chief Examiner of Accounts P Venkateshwar Reddy accompanied the observer during the inspection.

Following the inspection, Expenditure Observer Sanjeev Kumar held a review meeting with the District Election Officer at the GHMC Head Office. The meeting focused on monitoring party and candidate expenditure, ensuring strict implementation of the Model Code of Conduct, and reviewing other election-related compliance measures.

Meanwhile, the General Observer Ranjit Kumar Singh, examined the scrutiny process of nominations at the office of the Returning Officer. He directed the Returning Officer P Sairam and Assistant Returning Officers to conduct the scrutiny process strictly in accordance with the Election Commission of India (ECI) guidelines, ensuring transparency and adherence to norms.

A total of 211 candidates have filed 321 nominations for the bye-election. The Election Commission has allowed withdrawal of nominations up to October 24.

Police Observer Om Prakash Tripathi inspected critical polling locations in the constituency on Wednesday.

He also reviewed arrangements at the Distribution, Reception and Counting (DRC) Centre and Strong Room located at Kotla Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy Stadium, besides inspecting the check posts. The Police Observer examined the security arrangements in place to ensure smooth and peaceful conduct of the by-election.