Ballari, once known for its mines and a center of state politics, has turned into election preparations after the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the schedule for the Assembly elections in Karnataka on Wednesday.
A press conference was held by Deputy Commissioner and District Election Officer Pavan Kumar Malapati on the same day that the election results were announced. He provided an overview of election preparations to the media.
One of the significant actions was the installation of 24 checkpoints throughout the district, particularly along the boundary between Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. “Ballari and Andhra Pradesh share a boundary, and we have set all security measures in place. In a press briefing, Mr. Malapati said, “We have placed all important locations under CCTV camera monitoring, particularly in the check-posts along the Karnataka-Andhra boundary in the regions. Devoted teams have also been created to keep a continuous watch on the CCTV camera video.
Four checkpoints were created along the interstate boundary and eight checkpoints were established along the district borders, according to Mr Malapati’s information. The remaining checkpoints are placed in strategic places throughout the district’s five Assembly segments, including seven within the boundaries of the Ballari municipal corporation, he added. In order to make it easier for candidates, political parties, and the general public to voice concerns and other issues regarding the polls, a control centre has also been established at my office in Ballari. Anyone can report their problems by calling the toll-free numbers 08392-277100 and 1950, said Mr. Malapati.
Mr. Malapati made it abundantly obvious that no political or religious activities could be held in the district without the consent of the relevant officials, citing the model code of conduct as being in effect.
As soon as the ECI announced the results, Mr. Malapati issued an order telling all public employees to report to their offices and telling the officers in question to refrain from authorising leaves for their junior officers without his approval.
According to the data, the district has 11,40,899 electors, or 63.46% of its total population, of which 5,61,718 are males, 5,79,012 are women, and 169 are members of sexual minority groups.
In the area, there are 14, 871 electors who are disabled and 16,827 people who are over 80. Mr. Malapati cited the district’s 34,265 newly registered young voters as evidence that Ballari had the highest proportion of youth electors. He added that until April 11th, fresh voter registration requests could be submitted.
The district requires 2,445 voting units, 1,716 control units, and 1,857 voter-verifiable paper audit trails, and there are 1,191 polling places. (VVPAT). These computerized voting devices were produced by Electronics Corporation of India Limited, a company headquartered in Hyderabad. In the company of representatives from all the main political groups, the machines are tested by the specialists selected by the ECI, according to Mr. Malapati.