Tirupati district tightens security for free and fair local elections

Tirupati District Collector S. Venkateswar announced that all arrangements are in place to conduct the ensuing local body elections in a free and fair manner.

Strengthening the police force by ensuring special deployment in sensitive and violence-prone areas, the district administration appealed to voters to exercise their right to vote without fear.

Addressing a media conference here on Thursday, along with Superintendent of Police L. Subbarayudu, Joint Collector R. Govinda Rao and Tirupati Municipal Corporation (TMC) Commissioner M. Jayakrishna, the Collector said he had examined all aspects of the election, including readiness of ballot boxes, ballot papers, security in vaults, identification of polling staff, video footage, CC of ballot boxes, video recording of voting etc.

He categorically told Presiding Officers (POs), Assistant Presiding Officers (APOs) and Other Presiding Officers (OPOs) to attend election duty as scheduled and abstention from duty will be taken seriously.

Mr. Subbarayudu hinted at the presence of a strike force at selected places to deal with problem traders and warned anti-social elements not to interfere in the election process and not be ready to face trouble.

A 100m radius from the polling station would be heavily guarded, with entry restrictions, paneling and lighting, and therefore any violation would be viewed seriously, he added.

The Collector had earlier held a video conference with officials from the Revenue, Police, Municipal Administration and Rural Development departments to review the arrangements made for the upcoming municipal and MPTC/ZPTC elections.

Published – 29 Oct 2026 21:01 IST