Mysore/Mysuru: A high-level team of Mysuru District Election Officers led by Deputy Commissioner (DC) Dr. K.V. Rajendra, who is also the District Election Officer, visited the vote counting centre of Maharani’s College of Commerce and Management in Vinayakanagar (Paduvarahalli) this noon.
Counting of votes for the 2023 Assembly elections will be held here and the visit of the high-level team even before the announcement of the election dates holds significance.
The DC was accompanied by City Police Commissioner Ramesh Banoth, DCP (Law and Order) M. Muthuraj, DCP (Crime and Traffic) S. Jahnavi, MUDA Commissioner and EVM/VVPAT Nodal Officer G.T. Dinesh Kumar and other officers.
Visiting various sections of the college, classrooms, halls and meeting rooms, the DC asked officers to make preparations for the counting from now on, and be ready for the crucial dates.
EVMs and VVPATs will be brought here from the counting booths from all the constituencies and the strong rooms have to be prepared for secure storage.
The college will turn into a fortress with Paramilitary Forces and the City Police maintaining strict round-the-clock vigil ahead of D-Day, the DC said and asked the officers to name and segregate constituency-wise and taluk-wise (under the Mysuru District jurisdiction) counting rooms/ halls and fix signboards accordingly so that there is no last-minute confusion.
The entry and exit points of the College were examined and the officers were asked to take into consideration the food and accommodation arrangements to be provided to the security forces who will be guarding the centre 24X7.
Meanwhile, following directions from Deputy Commissioner Dr. K.V. Rajendra, the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) has begun removing the publicity materials — flex banners, hoardings and wall posters of political parties, ticket aspirants and others.
In his orders, the DC said that it is mandatory for all political leaders, aspirants and candidates to take permission from the local bodies or the City Corporation before putting up publicity materials.
In case of any violation, steps will be taken against the persons responsible for putting up unauthorised flex banners, the DC warned. Implementing the orders from the DC immediately last night, MCC’s Abhaya teams 1, 2 and 3 led by Manju, Shivu and Ramesh respectively began removing all the publicity materials including the posters that displayed birthday wishes and ticket ambitions of party workers.
Each Abhaya team has four members and they are going around the city clearing the banners. While a small percentage of the banners were cleared this morning, the entire task will be completed in a day or two. The MCC has appealed to the people to alert the officers and staff in case they come across such publicity posters, banners and hoardings.
This post was published on March 16, 2023 7:59 pm