Telangana officials told to ensure smooth conduct of panchayat elections

Hyderabad: District Election Officer C. Narayana Reddy directed nodal and polling officers to perform their duties efficiently during the upcoming second phase of gram panchayat elections. He held a district-level coordination meeting through video conference from the Collectorate on Monday.

Officials told to ensure fair and efficient Telangana panchayat elections

Narayana Reddy instructed officers to stay alert from the nomination process until the declaration of results. He said every stage of the election — including notification, nominations, and scrutiny must be handled without errors. Officers must also enforce the Model Code of Conduct strictly and maintain transparency.

He told mandal-level election teams to work as one unit and coordinate closely with other departments. Moreover, he reminded officials that political parties and candidates must obtain prior permission for meetings, rallies, and gatherings. If they fail to inform the expenditure monitoring teams, officials will review their expenses under election rules.

The Collector warned that no public events should take place without official approval. Therefore, he asked all teams to take immediate action against any violations.

Police, surveillance teams to monitor Telangana panchayat elections

Narayana Reddy said every flying and static surveillance team must include police personnel. He stressed that all procedures should follow Election Commission guidelines to ensure free and fair polling.

Additional Collector Srinivas said officers had already received training on election management. He asked them to stay cautious regarding strong rooms, ballot boxes, and ballot papers. He also said the administration appointed special officers to handle complaints and monitor attempts to influence voters.

Meanwhile, DCP Sunitha Reddy stated that the police department was coordinating with all departments for smooth election management. Additional DCPs were identifying sensitive villages and preparing security plans.

Senior officials, including Additional Collector Chandrreddy, Cyberabad Additional DCPs, ZP CEO Krishna Reddy, District Panchayat Officer Suresh Mohan, Excise Superintendent Krishna Priya, and MPDOs, attended the meeting.