Telangana ready for polls: Rajat Kumar

Telangana Chief Electoral Officer Rajat Kumar on Monday said the State Election Commission is fully geared up to conduct the elections and claimed that all arrangements have been made in a short time as compared to four other states that are going to polls.

He said 19.5 lakh people have applied for new enrolment (Form 6) and 1.5 lakh voters’ claims have been rejected. Rajat Kumar said the Election Commission of India (ECI) is ready to provide 100 more polling stations if required. “On an average, 13% of voters have increased in each assembly segment except Bhadrachalam which has seen a decrease of 40 %. Similarly, 21 % voters have decreased in Ashwaraopet as some of mandals in Bhadrachalam segment had



been transferred to AP after bifurcation of the state,” he said. Speaking to media after inaugurating a voter awareness centre in the Ranga Reddy district collectorate, the CEO said ECI has appointed an additional DG to look after law and order during the polls.

Responding to query, the CEO said leaders of some parties had raised objections over distribution of Bathukamma sarees and Rythu Bandhu cheques. Their representations have been sent to the ECI for taking a decision, he said.To another query, he said thanks to exercises conducted between 2015 and 2017, the number of clerical errors and bogus voter data had been brought down to 7 per cent.