With the term of the Telangana Assembly scheduled to end in January 2024, the Election Commission of India (ECI) is focussed on assessing the preparedness of the State election authority for smooth conduct of polls.
A high-level delegation of ECI, comprising senior deputy election commissioners, election commissioners and senior officials will be arriving in the city on Thursday on a three-day visit. The ECI delegation would first engage in crucial meetings with the Telangana CEO, special police nodal officer, and other senior officials to exchange insights and strategies regarding election security-related issues.
The delegation would then hold discussions with the district collectors, superintendents of police and other senior officials to explain the importance of starting the preparations early. The collectors/SPs are likely to be educated about the issues that should be focussed on as part of preparations.
Senior officials said the focus of the delegation will be on poll preparedness and whether the election machinery is on the right track. One of the major issues likely to crop up is the deletions of names from electoral rolls during the current year which, officials said, is on the higher side than that of previous years.
“We were particular about rectification of photo-similar entries during the summary revision and this resulted in more deletions,” a senior official told The Hindu.
With the election authority taking adequate precautions, additions to the voters’ list were not more. With just three months left for the announcement of the schedule for the next polls, the authority is awaiting a response from the government to its request for posting additional staff to effectively handle election duties.
“The Finance department is looking into the request and thereafter, it will go to the State Cabinet for approval,” the official said.
