Andhra Pradesh - Tirupati   

TMC mayoral candidature: decision after court verdict

Election mode: State Election Commissioner A.V.S. Reddy at a review meeting in Tirupati on Thursday.

TIRUPATI: The suspense on whether the mayoral candidate for the Tirupati Municipal Corporation should be from the Scheduled Tribes or not is likely to continue till April- 22, the deadline set by the AP High Court for its verdict on the contentious issue. Once the High Court delivers the judgement, the State Election Commission will take a decision on the subject, said the State Election Commissioner, A.V.S. Reddy. It may be mentioned here that the SEC is awaiting the disposal of a writ petition pending in the High Court on the validity or otherwise of the reservation of the Office of Tirupati Mayor to the Scheduled Tribes.

Reddy was interacting with mediapersons after a review meeting he held here on Thursday to assess the preparedness of the official machinery to conduct the much-awaited election which incidentally would be the first electoral battle to the civic body after Tirupati was elevated to the status of a Municipal Corporation. Important among those who participated in the in-camera meeting were Chittoor Collector, M. Ravichandra, Superintendent of Police, Lakshmi Reddy, Tirupati Municipal Corporation’s Commissioner Mohan Reddy besides other officials concerned.

Mr. Reddy said that the meeting laid special focus on the voters list as more often than not it became the source of controversy in any election either due to the non-inclusion of eligible voters or the inclusion of ineligible or non-existent voters during the enumeration process.

In accordance with the SEC’s direction to dispose off before March 25 all applications filed up to 7.3.08 seeking inclusion in the voters list, out of 27,792 applications received as many as 24,000 were included in the electoral rolls.

Since Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) would be used in the elections, the SEC reviewed in particular the number of EVMs that may be required for the election and so also the procurement of the election materials compatible to the EVMs.

Training to the polling staff in the operation of the EVMs during the election and the counting of votes also came up for review.

Among the other aspects which came under the scanner at the meeting today were the location of the polling stations, appointment of ROs and AROs, maintenance of law and order and more importantly the implementation of the model code of conduct.

SEC’s two secretaries Dr. G.M. Ramesh Kumar and K.S.N. Murthy were present.

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