Poll fever yet to grip Chevella

Rangareddy: Although the parties are busy in drawing battle lines for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections, no enthusiasm is being witnessed neither among the public nor in the poll staff, especially in Ranga Reddy district.

The voters, especially in the Chevella LS segment, are seen least interested in picking up election topic as their primary point of discussion. They simply point towards inefficient local leaders who they say are functioning without any pragmatic approach to public issues. Even the employees drafted for election duties are said to have been found completely passive towards their functioning; they are taking their obligations for granted.

This has come to light when the collector and district election officer issued a notice on Saturday warning the poll officials against playing truant from training sessions repeatedly. It is said that some employees drafted for election duty failed to report for training sessions twice. This has prompted the collector K Shashank to issue notice.

“Some employees drafted as presiding officers (Pos), assistant presiding officers (APOs) and other polling officers (OPOs) have failed to report for training session twice; show-cause notices have also been issued to them. Unless the employees report to HOD concerned immediately, criminal, besides disciplinary action, will be initiated against them under relevant laws,” said the notice.

According to official figures, 3,369 polling stations have been established in Ranga Reddy district of which 2,877 are in Chevella LS segment. They consist of seven Assembly constituencies, including Maheshwaram, Rajendranagar, Serilingampally, Chevella, Pargi, Vikarabad and Tandur.

Similarly, of a total of 16,669 POs, APOs, OPOs and MOs in the district, 13,443 are shown as available in the Chevella segment. Among them presiding officers and assistant presiding officers accounts for 4,042 each, while 8,085 are other polling officers, besides 500 micro observers. While the entire district has a total number of 35,91,987 voters, as on February 2024, the Chevella LS segment accounts for 29,19,465 electors spread over seven constituencies of the district, according to official figures.

It is worth mentioning that reports of poll-related discrepancies, like multiple votes in a single polling booth, faulty distribution of Voter Information Slips (VISs), besides Non-delivery of Election Voter IDs on time and leaders are distributing VISs, instead of the election staff, mostly from Maheshwaram and Rajendranagar constituencies in the recent elections.