Telangana Polls: Money Power, Freebies Distribution Will Be On Radar, Says Chief Election Commissioner

Telangana Polls: If enforcement agencies do not act, the Chief Election Commissioner of India said that they would make them act.

Rajiv Kumar said that the Election Commission was fully committed to deliver free, fair, transparent and inducement-free elections. 

Source : PTI

A team of 17 members led by the Chief Election Commissioner of India Rajiv Kumar has been in Hyderabad for the last three days to evaluate the state of readiness for the upcoming elections in Telangana. Rajiv Kumar, the Chief Election Commissioner, also held meetings with various stakeholders including political parties and government officials. Addressing the reporters after taking stock of the preparedness, Rajiv Kumar said that the Election Commission was fully committed to deliver free, fair, transparent and inducement-free elections. 

The Chief Election Commissioner said, money power, freebies distribution would be on their special radar. "If they (enforcement agencies) do not act we will make them act. As the time comes, we will assess and ensure that they act on all of this,” he told reporters.

On poll preparedness for the forthcoming Assembly Elections in Telangana, Rajiv Kumar said, "There are 119 constituencies of which 88 are general, 12 were STs, and 19 are SCs. The total number of electors as per the rule published yesterday, and it was published in all 5 ongoing states together on October 4."

In Telangana, he said, "The total electors are 3.17 crore... male and female are almost equal at 1.58 and 1.58 crores... We made efforts to make the voter list very inclusive and worked with great zeal with the enrollment of the transistors. So we have been able to register 2557 transgenders. Persons with disabilities on our electors rule are 5.06 lakh... 80+ (age) voters of 4.43 lakhs, out of which 7689 are aged 100+..."

On the effort to include the young voters he said,  "The voters between (age) 18 and 19, the youngest number is 8.11 lakhs, which is also a very encouraging trend."

#WATCH | On poll preparedness for the forthcoming Assembly Elections in Telangana, Chief Election Commissioner of India, Rajiv Kumar says, "There are 119 constituencies of which 88 are general, 12 were STs, and 19 are SCs. The total number of electors as per the rule published… pic.twitter.com/27NsPZy7yo

— ANI (@ANI) October 5, 2023