Every single person who casts his or her vote during the Kadapa Lok Sabha and Pulivendula Assembly bypolls on Sunday will be fingerprinted and for the first time in the country, the entire poll process will be webcast on the Internet. The bypolls, the most exciting ever in the state’s history, will also see unprecedented security
arrangements to ensure free and fair polling. “Around 13,000 police personnel have been deployed in Kadapa for the bypolls. We have taken all measures to face any eventualities. But there is no problem as such. Everything is peaceful in Kadapa,” said the director-general of police, Mr Aravinda Rao, on Saturday.
On Sunday, it will be the women who will decide the fates of the 42 candidates for the Kadapa Lok Sabha seat and the 25 candidates for the Pulivendula Assembly seat. Of a total of 13,28,869 voters, there are 6,80,514 women voters as against 6,48,355 male voters. The bypolls, which have overshadowed the Assembly elections of the four states in terms of national interest, will be held from 8 am to 5 pm.
For Kadapa Lok Sabha, the fray will be between former MP Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy of the YSR Congress, Dr D.L. Ravindra Reddy of the Congress and Mr M.V. Mysura Reddy of the TDP. In Pulivendula, Y.S. Vijayalakshmi will take on her brother-in-law, the Congress’ Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy and the TDP’s M. Ravindranath Reddy. On Saturday, chief electoral officer Bhanwar Lal reviewed the security arrangements with Mr Aravinda Rao.
Later. speaking to reporters, Mr Aravinda Rao informed that additional police forces from Tamil Nadu and Kerala had been deployed to ensure that the poll day would be hassle free.