Tirupati braces up for counting of votes on June 4

TIRUPATI: Tirupati is bracing up for the counting of votes on June 4. The counting for the seven assembly segments and Tirupati parliamentary constituency will be held at the School of Engineering & Techonology in Sri Padmavati Mahila Visvavidyalayam in the city. Explaining the details to the media, Collector and District Election Officer Pravin Kumar said that foolproof security arrangements were made at the strong rooms and the counting halls.

Total 90 CCTV cameras installed covering every strong room from inside and outside. Further one control room made operative round the clock to monitor the CCTV footages. At the strong room venue three Tahsildars are deployed for monitoring the security arrangements with each one will be in duty for eight hours. They will also monitor CCTV live streaming of all strong rooms.

To facilitate the candidates or their agents to view CCTV footage round the clock, a separate area was earmarked inside the SPMVV campus. For this purpose, the representatives of political parties were also issued passes to monitor the CCTV coverage of strong rooms. All strong rooms have single and common entry/exit with all other door and windows sealed with concrete. Uninterrupted power supply is ensured at the strong rooms.

Kumar said that three tier guarding system as prescribed by the ECI has been provided with central armed forces deployed nearby strong room followed by state armed police in the inner perimeter. At the 3rd layer civil police security has been provided at the outer perimeter. He made it clear they exercised more caution so as to avoid any suspicions on the safety of the polled EVMs.

District SP V Harshavardhan Raju said that Section 144 which is in vogue now will be relaxed in some areas to facilitate Ganga Jatara to conduct in a hassle-free manner. In those areas additional forces will be deployed. Ahead of the counting, troublesome fellows will be counselled and they will be either house arrested or kept in the stations. Flag marches will be organised to instil confidence among the people. There are 60 police pickets in the district while half of them are in Chandragiri constituency itself.

The SP made it clear that no rallies or celebrations are allowed after the results are announced. Political parties should show restraint on this. Stringent action will be initiated if betting type of activities are found, he warned. DRO Penchala Kishore and District Public Relations Officer A Bala Kondaiah were present.