42 in fray in Kadapa, 25 in Pulivendulaby-elections

42 in fray in Kadapa, 25 in Pulivendulaby-elections

As many as 42 candidates are in the fray for the Kadapa Lok Sabha seat and 25 for the Pulivendla Assembly constituency seat for which by-elections will be held on May 8.

Of the 57 nominations filed from Kadapa, 14 were rejected by the returning officer during scrutiny. One candidate has withdrawn his candidature.

Apart from YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, who is contesting on behalf of Yuvajana Sramikaa Rythu Congress Party, there are eight other contestants bearing the name of Jagan Mohan Reddy.

For the Pulivendla assembly constituency seat, out of the 31 nominations, five were rejected and one candidate has withdrawn his candidature. Apart from YS Vijayamma, three others named Vijayalakshmi or Vijayamma are in the fray there.

Chief electoral officer Bhanwar Lal told reporters on Thursday that in view of the importance of the by-elections, the Election Commission was keeping a strict vigil and taking steps for conducting the election in a free and fair manner.

The police have bound over a staggering number of 8,958 persons. In the last few days, an amount of Rs 1.73 crore has been seized, 44 persons were arrested and 21 cases registered against them. The income tax department is investigating as to whom the money belonged, from where the money was despatched and to whom it was meant. Based on the outcome, legal action would be initiated against the culprits, the CEO said.

Besides the money, 1,000 detonators, 1,248 gelatin sticks and four bombs have been seized in the district.

In addition to the six observers, the EC has appointed two more and they will be joining the duty in a day or two. To check malpractices like rigging, web cameras will be installed in all the polling stations to capture the polling live.

Apart from the local police, paramilitary will be deployed in a couple of days. Thirty-two flying squads will be added to the 32 already deployed.

Altogehter, there are 13,28,869 voters and 1,512 polling stations in the Kadapa Lok Sabhs constituency. The Assembly sgment-wise braek-up is Badvel (1,83,356 voters, 219 stations), Kadapa (2,13,227; 225), Pulivendla (1,89,102; 219), Kamalapuram (1,62,277; 203), Jammalamadugu (2,08,629; 236), Proddatur (1,97,858; 216) and Mydukur (1,74,420;194).

For enrolled voters who do not have EPIC cards, the commission has made arrangement for issue of EPIC cards at eight e-Seva centres.

In view of the large number of candidates contesting the elections, about 7,000 electronic voting machines (EVMs) _ three balloting units for Lok Sabha voting and two balloting units for Assembly voting _ will be required for each polling station. The additional ballot units are being brought from neighbouring districts.

source:http://expressbuzz.com/states/andhrapradesh/andhra-42-in-fray-in-kadapa-25-in-pulivendula/267907.html