ECI team begins visit to Telangana to assess poll preparedness

Hyderabad, Oct 3 (IANS) A high-level team of the Election Commission of India (ECI) headed by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar is visiting Telangana from Tuesday to assess preparedness for the upcoming Assembly elections.

During the three day visit, the team will meet political parties, enforcement agencies and other stakeholders.

On the first day of their visit, the team will hold a meeting of national and state recognised political parties. Three representatives from each political party have been invited for the meeting, scheduled in the afternoon.

The commission will take the opinion and suggestions of the parties regarding the conduct of the elections.

This will be followed by a meeting with enforcement agencies to discuss key matters related to the upcoming elections. The meeting will decide measures to check the influence of money, liquor and other allurements to the voters.

Telangana Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Vikas Raj and nodal officers of state and central police forces will make presentations before the ECI team about the poll preparedness.

The next day, the team will flag off cyclothon and walkathon as part of voter awareness campaign. This will be followed by a meeting with district election officers, collectors and superintendents of police to review the district-level preparedness.

On October 5, the ECI team will visit the exhibition on Systematic Voters' Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) activities. The EC team will interact with state icons, Persons with Disabilities (PwD) voters, and young voters to promote awareness and participation in the democratic process.

The team will subsequently hold a crucial meeting with Chief Secretary Santhi Kumari and Director-General of Police (DGP) Anjani Kumar to discuss poll preparedness.

The CEC and other commissioners will conclude the visit with a press conference.

A week or 10 days after the visit, the poll panel is likely to announce the schedule for elections to the 119-member Assembly.

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