Telangana assembly polls: State has 119 constituencies, 3.17 crore electors, says CEC Rajiv Kumar

CEC Rajiv Kumar said, "We had meetings with political parties, enforcement agencies, SPs, DMs, Police Commissioners and all other district, state and central agencies in the last 2 days in Hyderabad. We met representatives of different political parties including AAP, BSP, CPI(M), BJP, Indian National Congress, AIMIM, TDP and BRS. They told us that elections should be inducement-free in Telangana. They requested that money power, liquor and freebies distribution in the state should be cut. They also requested a level playing field. They welcomed ECI's decision of home voting for the elderly. They also requested the deployment of CAPF in critical locations and micro observers in polling stations, especially in urban areas. They also requested webcasting on polling days and vigil on hate speech."

He added, "We have 119 constituencies with 88 general, 12 ST and 19 SC constituencies. We have 3.17 crore electors in Telangana. We have an equal ratio of male and female electors. We have 2557 transgender electors. We have 8.11 lakh first-time voters in the 18-19 age group. There is no suo motto deletion and only deletions are done when form 7 is received. All deletions were verified by the officers. 22 lakhs of voters were deleted in 2022 and 2023. The gender ratio in the 18-19 age group increased from 707 to 743. The electoral gender ratio is 998."

He further said, "We have 35,356 polling stations in the state. The average number of voters per polling station is 897. We will have webcasting in around 78 per cent. There are around 20,000 polling stations in rural areas which is predominantly more. We have polling stations managed exclusively by people with disabilities, women, and youth and also model polling stations. All polling stations will have basic facilities of toilets, drinking water, volunteers for helping people with disability and others."

He added, "For the first time in Telangana, we are giving all our senior citizens who are 4.43 lakhs, to vote from the comfort of their homes if they want. Similarly, the people who have more than 40% disability can also vote from home."

He said, "cVIGIL app is an application a person can use to report the violation of any election code. One can upload a photo if someone is disturbing money or liquor and we will respond to it immediately and reply within 100 minutes. The name of the person will not be disclosed."

He added, "The state voter turnout is 73.37 per cent. It is less common in urban areas. Telangana shares a border with 4 states. We have a total of 148 checkposts in these interstate borders. All the checkposts will have CCTV monitoring."

He said, "We are committed to delivering free, fair and transparent elections. Money Power, freebies distribution and others will be on our radar. We have directed all central and state agencies to be alert and strict on any kind of money power, freebies, liquor and others. The central and state machinery will be vigil and strict on this." (ANI)