In Vadodara, all booths brought under CCTV surveillance

Vadodara, April 28: For the first time in country, all 1,591 polling booths in Vadodara constituency in Gujarat, where BJP's PM nominee Narendra Modi is in the fray, are being equipped with CCTV cameras and overall electoral process there on April 30 will be videographed, a senior officer said today.

"Vadodara constituency comprising seven Assembly segments is the first in all 543 Parliamentary constituencies in the country where all polling booths are being equipped with CCTV cameras and videography of the overall process will be done," said District Returning Officer Vinod Rao.

The seat became high-profile since Modi decided to make his Lok Sabha election debut from here, besides Varanasi. Modi is taking on senior Congress leader Madhusudan Mistry.

All 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat are going to polls in single phase on April 30. "....This (videography and installation of CCTV cameras) is innovative and we have done it after consulting the election commission," he said.

"According to the EC guidelines at least 10 per cent of total polling stations in a constituency should be covered by CCTV cameras," Rao said, adding the district administration has also constructed temporary sheds at all booths to protect voters from sweltering heat.

He said a special control room was set up by the election commission from where a senior official will monitor the overall electoral process at all booths. Meanwhile, police commissioner Satish Sharma said adequate security arrangements are made in the city to ensure free and fair elections.

"Several anti-social elements are taken into preventive custody," he said. The State Election Commission yesterday said that a total of 1,86,460 preventive arrests are made under CrPC to instill a sense of safety among voters and holding of free and fair polls in Gujarat.

PTI