Udupi has 54 booths in Naxalite affected area

Team Udayavani, May 12, 2018, 3:11 PM IST

Udupi: Udupi is set for the polling in five Assembly constituencies in the district. Women voters outnumber men in all five constituencies of Udupi, Kaup, Karkala, Byndoor and Kundapur, in the district.

There are 9,93,415 voters in the district, of which 5,15,041 are women, 4,78,350 are men and 24 are trangenders.

There are 34 candidates in the run for seats in five Assembly constituencies.

The highest number of candidates in the fray is in Byndoor, where nine are contesting, while the lowest number is in Kaup and Kundapur, where five candidates each are trying their luck.

Security arrangements

Security arrangements are in place to ensure free and fair polling in the district. Around 2,500 police officers and personnel have been deployed into service for this very purpose.

The 2,500 personnel include officers and staff from the district police, Home Guards, three platoons of Karnataka State Reserve Police and 16 companies of Central Para Military Forces including those from Border Security Force, Sashastra Seema Bal, Central Reserve Police Force, and Haryana police.

Of the 1,103 pooling booths in the district, 226 had been categorized as critical, while the remaining 877 booths were classified as normal.

Around 54 booths are located in the naxalite-affected areas of district. They come under Karkala, Byndoor and Kundapur constituencies. Booths in the naxalite-affected area is guarded by personnel of paramilitary forces.

6,342 polling officials and staff will man the polling process in 1,038 stations in the district. The mustering and de-mustering centres are: Bhandarkars’ College in Kundapur for Byndoor and Kundapur Assembly constituencies; St. Cecily’s School and PU College for Udupi Assembly Constituency and Kaup Assembly Constituency; and Manjunatha Pai Hall in Karkala for Karkala Assembly Constituency.

The polling officials have taken the Electronic Voting Machines along with Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trails machines from these mustering and de-mustering centres to the polling booths assigned to them.