Bypoll went off smoothly, central security for strong rooms: Observer

TIRUPATI: Tirupati Lok Sabha by-election observer Dinesh Kumar Giridhar Lal has said the Central Armed Police Forces will safeguard the strong rooms where the EVMs are kept, till the day of counting on May 2. “The by-election went off smoothly and the arrangements were good. I have inspected 15 polling stations,” said Giridhar Lal.

The election observer also reviewed the scrutiny arrangements with the District Election Of ficer, Municipal Commissioner PS Girisha, Chittoor SP S Senthil Kumar, Tirupati Urban SP Ch Venkata Appala Naidu and Joint Collector Veerabrahmam, polling officials and representatives of candidates of various political parties. He also enquired about the complaints received in the last 48 hours. Assembly segment wise AROs Chandramouliswar Reddy (Tirupati-), Srinivas (Srikalahasti) and Chandra Sekhar (Satyavedu) presented the records from their respective sectoral authorities before the observer.

The AROs disclosed the details of the EVMs under their purview in the presence of agents of various political parties. They showed the security system in place, removed the power to the strong rooms and showed the installation of CCTV cameras outside, before sealing the strong rooms in the presence of the Observer and others and soon after, the Central Armed Police Forces took over the security. The EVMs, VVPATs and other units received from the polling stations in Chittoor district were kept in the strong rooms in SV Arts College. With the polling ended by 7 pm on Saturday, it took till Sunday morning for some of the EVMs and VVPATs to reach the centre in Tirupati.

Meanwhile, EVMs and VVPATs of Sullurpeta, Gudur, Venkatagiri and Sarvepalli Assembly segments were kept in strong rooms in DKW Government College in Nellore in the presence of candidates and their representatives. Here also, Central forces are safeguarding the strong rooms.