Following the announcement of urban local body election to be held in the state next month, district election officer (DEO), Prayagraj, Sanjay Kumar Khatri has posted magistrates will oversee smooth conduct of polls.
A total of 19 zonal and 110 sector magistrates have been posted in the Prayagraj Municipal Corporation area, while eight zonal and 16 sector magistrates have been posted for the eight Nagar Panchayat areas of the district, say officials aware of the development.
These magistrates will be responsible for maintaining peace and order and also oversee smooth dispatch of polling parties on the eve of the polling day on May 3 in preparation of the voting set to take place on May 4, they add.
The nomination process for the urban local body polls-2023 in the district is already under way since April 11 and will continue till April 17 as per the schedule for the first phase of the polls. After this, the election activities in Prayagraj are expected to intensify. DEO/district magistrate Sanjay Kumar Khatri had given responsibility to CDO Gaurav Kumar and ADM (civil supplies) JP Singh to deploy sector and zonal magistrates in run-up to the polls.
“The number of polling booths is more in urban areas. In such a situation, the entire urban area has been divided into 19 zones. A zonal magistrate has been posted in each zone. Each zonal magistrate will be in charge of six sectors. At the same time, eight zonal magistrates have been posted in eight Nagar Panchayats, while eight sector magistrates will handle elections in Nagar Panchayats. All the sector magistrates will keep a constant vigil on sensitive, ultra-sensitive, ultra-sensitive plus booths in their respective sectors,” the DEO said.
They will take action with the police team on the apprehension of any untoward incident. Along with this, the dispatch of polling parties, ensuring every staff on poll duty arrives on duty as per rules will also be ensured by them, said a senior official.
ADM (civil supplies) JP Singh said magistrates had been deployed. “They will keep a close watch in their respective areas,” he added.
Officials said till Thursday, 53 sets of nomination papers for the post of mayor had been procured by aspirants but none deposited. Likewise, 1467 sets of nomination papers had been procured for the post of corporators but just eight had been deposited.
Similarly, 102 sets of nomination papers have been procured for the post of Nagar Panchayat chairman but none have been deposited while 443 sets of nomination papers have ben procured for the post of member of Nagar Panchayat but only 38 have been deposited.