Police Roster Finalised and Campaign Materials Removed as Tirupati Election Countdown Nears End

Police officers slated for election duties were randomly assigned on Friday evening as the Tirupati urban local body campaign drew to a close. The same night city officials began taking down campaign posters and other publicity material across the district. The finalisation of the police roster was observed by election general observer M. Varaprasad and Joint Collector R. Govinda Rao, who announced its completion. A dedicated control room has been set up inside the Tirupati Collectorate to monitor the situation in real time and to field complaints from candidates, party workers or ordinary citizens. District Collector S. Venkateswar provided a helpline number – 0877-2236007 – for reporting any disruptive behaviour by candidates, their supporters or election staff. He warned that such incidents should be reported immediately to the control centre. In addition, special postal-ballot centres have been arranged for election personnel involved in the MPTC and ZPTC polls. The Mandal MPDO offices will serve as voting facilitation points where polling officers and assistant polling officers can cast their postal votes on 2 November, between 10 am and 5 pm. These arrangements are intended to ensure a smooth and transparent voting process as the final polling day approaches.

Context

These steps follow standard Indian election guidelines that use random police deployment and postal voting for staff to curb bias and maintain order during local body polls.