Slew of measures in Noida, Gzb to ensure peaceful polls

NOIDA/GHAZIABAD: As the UP Assembly Elections are round the corner, the district administrations of Noida and Ghaziabad have announced their preparations to conduct peaceful elections in all the Assembly seats of the district to be held on February 11 during the first phase of the Uttar Pradesh (UP) Assembly polls.

The two issued several guidelines to the police officials and the officers on duty, while, in the move to make a much effective election season, various amenities to facilitate the voters are also been announced by the administrations.

With three constituencies in Noida and five in Ghaziabad district going to the polls on February 11, the police personnel on election duty will also be conducting vehicle checks and surprise inspections of candidates.

There are 25, 92, 726 voters in Ghaziabad in the three constituencies respectively out of which male voters are 14, 60, 359 while female voters are 11, 32, 325 respectively. The District Magistrate of Ghaziabad Nidhi Kesarwani said: “For the smooth conduct of the elections, a 24-hour operational control room has been established to monitor any untoward incident. To make the staff more skilled, the award of certification has been introduced in the district as well.”

The district election commission has directed all the candidates to make a videography of all the rallies and public campaigns they conduct. The move has been taken to avoid statements made against any particular communities and for those who seek votes in the name of religion.

According to the election commission, asking for votes on the name of religion will be deemed to be a corrupt practice. Videography will enable them to investigate any such matter if registered against any candidate.

The local expenditure committee in-charge has directed members to collect daily data from six teams and the returning officer (RO). “The six teams include control room team, videography team, video viewing team, media certification and monitoring committee (MCMC), flying squads and static teams,” said Nijlingappa, treasury officer and expenditure monitoring committee in-charge.

According to district electoral officer NP Singh: “The limit of expenses set for a candidate is Rs 28 lakh. The expenses should be managed from a single account. The election commission has set a withdrawal limit of Rs 20,000 for each candidate. Withdrawal of higher amount can only be done through cheques and the commission will keep a tab on the bank accounts and all the transactions.” Sujata Singh, superintendent of police (rural), said no policeman will be allowed to inspect any woman in the district. “We will deploy female police personnel to check the belongings of women during inspection rounds. We will ensure that there is no unaccounted supply of cash during the poll season,” said Singh.

Believing in social media to be the best tool, the administration announced that they may also register police cases for “disinformation” and “spreading communal propaganda” through such platforms. The district Electoral officer has also made an appeal to the people as well as the candidates not to run the publicity of any candidate through Whatsapp and other social media platforms.