GUNTUR: Dereliction of duty by any official during the municipal elections will be viewed seriously and action initiated against such officials, said one of the Election Observers for the Guntur district, P. Raghuveer.

At a review meeting conducted here on Saturday with the officials from various municipalities, he said that the coming two weeks would be crucial for the smooth conduct of the elections.

He advised the officials to be pro-active and to keep a check on the contesting candidates to ensure that the model code of conduct was strictly implemented.

Surrogate campaigning

The officials also need to be aware of `surrogate campaigning' by some independent candidates who were kept in the fray by political parties as dummy candidates. Steps should be taken to ensure that the independent candidates do not campaign for a major political party, said another observer, S.K. Chotray.

The political parties usually resort to this practice when their election campaign expenditure exceeds the stipulated amount. He said that the polling staff should be impartial and book cases of violation of model code of conduct wherever necessary.

The Collector, G. Jayalakshmi, apprised the Election Observers of the arrangements made by the district administration for the smooth conduct of polls.

The Superintendent of Police, V.C. Sajjanar, said that the police have taken all steps to ensure smooth conduct of the polls.

The police have already conducted flag marches in sensitive areas and additional forces were requisitioned for different municipalities.

The police have already got two companies of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel and another two companies of Andhra Pradesh Special Police (APSP). Another five companies of CRPF personnel were expected soon, Mr. Sajjanar said.

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