Stage set for orderly conduct of election in AP

As Andhra Pradesh goes to its first general election Thursday post-bifurcation, all arrangements have been made for smooth conduct of the poll in 25 Lok Sabha and 175 Assembly seats. This is the first general election in the state after bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh and creation of Telangana in June 2014.

There are a total of 3,93,45,717 registered voters, including 1,94,62,339 male, 1,98,79,421 female and 3957 transgenders. Of the total, 10.15 lakh are first-time voters in the 18-19 age group.

The state has 56,908 service voters while 5323 NRIs from the state are also registered as voters. As many as 2,118 and 319 candidates are in the fray for 175 Assembly and 25 Lok Sabha seats respectively.

In 2014, 77.96 per cent polling was recorded in 13 districts and Election Commission authorities expect the percentage to go beyond 80 per cent this time. Of the total 46,120 polling stations, 8514 have been classified as critical and 520 as Left-wing Extremism-affected.

Arrangements have been made for video recording of the polling process in all places, while webcasting would be done from about 28,000 polling stations. State Chief Electoral Officer Gopal Krishna Dwivedi said on the eve of polling day that 197 companies of Central Armed Police Force have been deployed across the state in addition to 51,525 state police personnel, 60 companies of AP Special Police, 4500 Karnataka and 736 Odisha police for security.

The total number of security personnel deployed is 1.20 lakh. Polling would end at 4 PM in the Left-wing extremism affected areas, mostly those bordering Odisha and Chhattisgarh.

"There is a shortage of security personnel compared to the previous elections. We are deploying even ex-servicemen from Tamil Nadu for poll duties.

We have deployed adequate armed security personnel in areas that have Maoist influence," Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Ravi Shankar Ayyanar said. As many as three lakh personnel would discharge election duties on polling day.

The authorities are using 2,684 GIS and GPS-based vehicle and personnel tracking devices, 67 drones and 1,200 body-worn cameras for surveillance and security monitoring. Over Rs, 200 crores in cash and valuables like gold and silver was seized in the last one month as part of the enforcement measures.

Liquor worth over Rs 25 crore was also confiscated. The CEO said mobile phones would not be allowed into the polling stations and taking selfies was also prohibited.

"Action will be taken against violators of this norm. Even polling staff who allow this violation will also be punished," Dwivedi warned.

(With inputs from agencies.)