Security and administrative arrangements have been finalised in all districts in the Bahawalpur division, said Bahawalpur Regional Provisional Officer (RPO) Ghulam Rasool Zahid on Thursday.
Zahid said 3,749 polling stations had been established for 4,561,839 eligible voters in the Bahawalpur division. Police, the Police Qaumi Razakar force and Punjab Constabulary officials would provide security at the polling stations.
The Army and Rangers might be called in if necessary, he said. A total of 239 polling stations have been declared ‘sensitive’ so far. The rules and regulations issued by the Election Commission would be followed in letter and spirit, he said.
Regional Election Commissioner (REC) Mian Shahid told The Express Tribune that 3,008 polling booths had been established in 1,145 polling stations in the Bahawalpur district for five seats to the National Assembly and 10 to the Provincial Assembly.
He said 1,145 presiding officers, 6,160 assistant presiding officers and 3,080 polling officers had been assigned polling duties at 171 polling stations for men, 171 for women and 803 for men and women.
There were a total of 115 ‘sensitive’ polling stations in the district, Shahid said.
The number of registered voters in Rahim Yar Khan district is 1,841,640. The REC said 1,551 polling stations had been established for six seats to the National Assembly and 13 seats to the Provincial Assembly.
A total of 4,273 polling booths have been set up in 134 polling stations for men, 134 for women and 905 for men and women. A total of 14,703 government officials have been assigned for these polling stations.
As many as 1,551 officials will perform duties as presiding officers, 8,546 as assistant presiding officers and 4,273 will perform their duties as polling officers. 77 polling stations have been declared ‘sensitive’ in Rahim Yar Khan district, Shahid said.
A total of 1,232,366 voters have been registered in Bahawalnagar district. As many as 3,625 polling booths have been set up in 1,033 polling stations for four National Assembly and eight Provincial Assembly seats.
For these, 1,028 officials will perform duties as presiding officers, 7,250 as assistant presiding officers and 3,625 as polling officers at 134 polling stations for men, 134 for women and 760 polling stations for men and women. 47 polling stations have been declared ‘sensitive’ in the district, Shahid said. The Bahawalpur RPO said the security situation in the division was under control. Police would ensure law and order during the general election, he said.
Bahawalpur District Coordination Officer Naeem Rauf said the relevant departments had been directed to enforce the code of conduct issued by the Election Commission.
CCTV cameras would be installed at ‘sensitive’ polling stations to monitor the polling. The district monitoring cell will be supervised by Agriculture EDO Tanvir Ahmed, Rauf added.
Candidates are not allowed to use government property or vehicles for campaigning. They have to obtain permission from the local government and pay the requisite charges to use such property, Rauf said.
Wall chalking has been banned and candidates have been asked to respect the code of conduct in their publicity campaigns.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 7th, 2013.