KARIMNAGAR: Election Commission of India (ECI) has increased by two hours time for voters to exercise their franchise in the super-charged Huzurabad by-election in Karimnagar district on Saturday.
Generally, the polling starts at 7 in the morning and ends at 5 p.m. For Huzurabad, however, polling will be from 7 a.m. to 7 in the evening.
Police will be deployed at 306 places in five mandals of the constituency. Section 144 will be in force throughout the assembly segment. About 3,880 security personnel, including central forces, are being deployed to prevent any untoward incidents. There will be 1,715 polling personnel of the Election Commission with 421 control units, 891 voting machines and 515 VV PAT units.
All polling materials have been handed over to polling personnel at the central distribution centre in Government Junior College in Huzurabad. These personnel will reach their polling stations latest by Friday night and be ready for polling from Saturday 7 a.m.
Strict Covid norms will be followed including hand sanitisation and checking of voters’ body temperature by health staff before anyone can enter the polling centre. In case any Covid patients come to exercise their franchise, PPE kits and hand gloves will be provided to them, so that they too can exercise their voting right.
District collector and election officer R.V. Karnan, returning officer Ch. Ravinder Reddy and police commissioner V. Satyanarayana supervised arrangements being made for polling.
