Date:03/06/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/06/03/stories/2008060354340600.htm

Andhra Pradesh

Ensuring peaceful election process

S. Harpal Singh

Presence of observers and security forces has a sobering effect on political activists

ADILABAD: However diligent the political parties may be, in making elections a difficult event, the Election Commission and the security forces are equally diligent in enforcing the law and making it a rather smooth affair.

Had it not been for the law and order machinery and the election observers on duty, no contemporary election would have been as peaceful.

There may be a number of occasions when political parties succeed in evading the Election Commission’s (EC) attention while breaking election related laws during campaigns.

Yet, the presence of the observers and the security forces has a sobering effect on political activists.

The just concluded byelections saw hundreds of policemen making sanitised those areas that were visited by VIP leaders.

Five-member teams of road opening parties scan every inch on the road leading to the venue of the meeting that a VIP is to address.

Under control

As early as 48 hours before the scheduled time of the event no unauthorised person or material moves without the knowledge of the area dominating party that takes the area under its control.

The Special Intelligence Branch and the local investigation and detection parties keep tab on movement of suspicious persons. Counter action teams are in action as well.

One home guard each will keep a watch on one culvert along the routes that lead to the venue of the VIP visit even if the concerned leader arrives in a helicopter. Lastly, the rope parties consisting of 20 policemen each, throw a security ring around the leaders in question.

In addition thousands of policemen and paramilitary forces are deployed on polling day to ensure its free and fair conduct.

Code violation

The election observers keep moving around the constituency to pick out instances of violation of code of conduct.

Generally they move unobserved seizing erring vehicles and report on violations related to time limits among other things.

The termination of code period on Tuesday will see complete withdrawal of security forces as well as the end of the tenure of the observers in the byelections.