Lokmat News Network
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:
The straight fight between candidates of different parties in the Aurangabad and the Jalna Lok Sabha Constituencies is not yet clear then also the aspirants of all the parties have either geared up or have started the preparations to start the election campaigning. Taking the election as a challenge, the police administration is on the heels of maintaining a law and order situation during the election period. Meanwhile, the ‘khaki’ administration besides SRPF and BSF companies will be deploying 3,180 police personnel on the herculean task. The local police administration has also sought additional security force from the office of the Directorate General of Police (DGP) to deploy them at the highly (or hyper) sensitive polling stations in the city and rural parts of the district.
As reported earlier, the senior police officers had already referred to the intelligence bureau’s report raising an alert in Aurangabad Constituency. Hence the police and other concerned administrations have geared to tackle all odds for smooth conduct of the polls. The police have prepared a list of polling stations where incidents of bogus voting, notorious activity, quarreling, capturing of the booth, or any offence have been registered on the occurrence of any incident, etc. The list also records the occurrence of crime and other severe incidents at different polling stations during the 2014 and 2019 elections. The additional police force will be deployed on such highly sensitive polling stations. It may be noted that the Election Commission of India (ECI) also identifies a few sensitive and hyper-sensitive polling stations. Hence to keep a close vigil on all happenings and maintain security, the Khaki administration will be deploying 3180 police personnel, apart from 2 companies of SRPF and one company of BSF.
250 sensitive booths in the district
According to sources, as per the 2019 Aurangabad Constituency report, there were 250 hyper-sensitive stations in the district. This includes three hyper-sensitive stations in the city. The ECI has appointed a few observers at some of these polling stations. Hence, the city and the rural police have visited these polling stations and reviewed the security deployment plan. The cops had also prepared a list of leaders, activists, office-bearers, and goons against whom cases have been registered.
Box
There are 2,098 polling stations in the nine assembly constituencies of the district. It includes 1192 stations in the city.
Of all the polling stations, 250 are sensitive polling stations. There are 3-7 hyper-senstive polling stations in the city and 20-30 sensitive polling stations in the rural area.
According to a veteran officer, the notification about the Aurangabad Constituency election is likely to be released on April 18. Meanwhile, the survey is underway to do webcasting of selective sensitive and hyper-sensitive polling stations. The district returning officer is keeping a close watch on all the developments and preparations.