Hyderabad, 10 February (HS): In view of the Telangana municipal elections, the state government has declared a paid holiday on polling day on Wednesday, February 11, for all employees, both government and private, working in factories, shops and industrial units located in areas where elections are scheduled, to enable them to exercise their franchise.
The order has been issued under Section 3 of the Telangana Factories and Establishments (National, Festival and Other Holidays) Act and Section 31 of the Telangana Shops and Establishments Act.
Polling for 116 municipalities and seven municipal corporations will be held from 7 am to 5 pm on Wednesday, while counting of votes will take place on February 13.
In a press release issued on Tuesday, February 10, the Telangana State Election Commission said elections will be held in 2,569 wards across 116 municipalities, with 10,719 candidates in the fray. Twelve wards have already been elected unanimously.
Similarly, elections will be held in 412 wards of the seven municipal corporations, with 2,225 candidates contesting. Two wards in the municipal corporations have been elected unanimously.
The total number of registered voters stands at 52,17,413, including 26,67,025 women, 25,49,750 men and 638 registered as others.
The Election Commission said 1,379 returning officers and 41,773 polling personnel have been deployed for election duties. A total of 8,191 polling stations have been identified for webcasting and 16,382 ballot boxes will be used.
As part of enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct, 4,150 persons were bound under preventive sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and 1,183 licensed arms were deposited. The Commission said cash amounting to Rs 1,19,68,200 was seized, along with liquor worth Rs 1,04,81,164, drugs and narcotics worth Rs 15,68,085, and precious metals and ornaments worth Rs 16,29,550.
The Election Commission has advised voters to use the Te-Poll mobile Android application to download voter slips and locate polling stations using their EPIC numbers. A call centre has also been set up with the toll-free number 9240021456 for voter assistance.
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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
