Kadapa By-Polls: Model Code Violated

Chief Electoral Officer Bhanwar Lal will hold a meeting with Director General Of Police K Aravinda Rao on April 5th to oversee the security arrangements, and to keep the law and order situation in check, during the 2 by-elections in the Kadapa district scheduled to be held on May 8th.

Kadapa being a sensitive area, the prestigious by-election fight between the Kadapa rebel leader and former Congress MP Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, and the Congress nominee, is being seen as an important issue for the Election Commission.

The by-elections to the Kadapa Lok Sabha constituency and the Pulivendula Assembly are being watched eagerly as the stakes are high.

Bhanwar Lal also told mediapersons at the state Secretariat on Saturday said that he had found a violation of the Code of Conduct in the Proddatur constituency of Kadapa, and stated that he would write to the Chief Election Commissioner, New Delhi.

The state government had issued a GO on March 31st, appointing a "Khazi" in Proddatur. The Khazi will officiate the marriages of people from the Muslim community. "His appointment, while the Model Code of Conduct is in force, is a violation," the CEO opined.

Bhanwar Lal also revealed that he had spoken to the district Collector of Kadapa and had reviewed the situation, to facilitate smooth conduct of the scheduled by-elections in the Kadapa Lok Sabha and Pulivendula Assembly constituencies.

As part of this program, he has taken steps to fix video cameras in order to collect the first-hand account of irregularities that might take place during the elections. (INN)