Candidates restricted to only 3 visits to polling centres

Lokmat News Network

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:

Polling for the municipal corporation elections will be held on January 15. A total of 859 candidates are in the fray. On polling day, each candidate will be permitted to visit any polling station only three times during the entire day and will not be allowed to make more visits than this. At the polling station, candidates may remain inside the polling compartment only for the duration it takes for three voters to cast their votes. No one will be allowed to use a mobile phone within a 100-metre radius of the polling station, and any mobile phone found in use will be seized. These instructions were conveyed to political representatives during a meeting by commissioner of police (CP) Pravin Pawar and municipal corporation administrator G Sreekanth.

A meeting of the police administration and representatives of various political parties was held on Friday afternoon at the Smart City Office. Those present included CP Pravin Pawar, deputy commissioner of police Ratnakar Navale, municipal commissioner G Sreekanth, deputy commissioner and head of election branch Vikas Navale, executive engineer Amol Kulkarni, assistant commissioner Rutuja Patil, along with representatives of various political parties.

Addressing the meeting, G Sreekanth said, “ Due to space constraints at vote-counting centres, it would be appropriate for each registered political party to appoint only one representative per panel. The CP said, “ Candidates requiring additional police protection during rallies, public meetings or other events would be provided with the necessary security. He also instructed that air balloons or drones should not be used without police permission.”

As January 14 marks the festival of Makar Sankranti, the CP appealed to the public not to use nylon kite strings. On the same day, as the anniversary of the renaming of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University (Bamu) will be observed, campaigning by any candidate or political party, distribution of gifts, and the display of political banners at the event venue will be strictly prohibited. Several queries and issues raised by candidates were also addressed during the meeting.