Foolproof arrangements for MLC polls in pilgrim city

Tirupati: Foolproof arrangements are being made for the conduct of MLC elections, said Municipal Commissioner Anupama Anjali, who is also the election officer for the elections including graduates and teachers for Tirupati. The Commissioner along with Tahsildar Venkataramana, Deputy Commissioner Chandramouleswar Reddy and Deputy Tahsildar Jeevan inspected some of the polling centres in the city on Saturday.

She said that 25 polling stations were set up for teachers and 4 for graduates in the city and added that meetings were already held with the leaders of parties over the conduct of elections. As many as 200 double entry voters were removed after verification and if any complaints on the voters list, it would be looked into, she said. Meanwhile CPI and CPM in a joint statement said that there were irregularities in the voters' list. They said that the 2,000 double entries were still not removed and cited that the name of a person was found 30 times in the list. District secretaries of CPM and CPI Nagaraju and Murali alleged that Regional Joint Director Prathap Reddy was pressurising officials to act in favour of the ruling party candidates and demanded relieving of Reddy from election duties to ensure fair polls. They also sought an election commission to keep the volunteers away from election duties.