Mysuru Lok Sabha constituency is going to the polls on April 18 and the district administration is geared up to conduct polling in a free and fair manner.

Krishnaraja, Narasimharaja, Chamaraja, Chamundeshwari, Hunsur, and Periyapatna Assembly constituencies, all in Mysuru district, and Madikeri and Virajpet constituencies, both from Kodagu district, come under the Mysuru Lok Sabha constituency.

Nanjangud, H.D. Kote, T. Narsipur, and Varuna Assembly constituencies in Mysuru district are part of the Chamarajanagar Lok Sabha constituency, while K.R. Nagar in the district comes under Mandya Lok Sabha segment.

Candidates can file their nomination papers from March 19 to 26. The nomination papers will be scrutinised on March 27 and the last date for withdrawing nomination is March 29.

As on January 16, the district had 24,65,102 voters — 12,34,454 male and 12,30,648 female. Chamundeshwari constituency has the highest number of voters at 2,95,990, while Periyapatna has the lowest (1,81,160). A total of 14,23,457 voters in six constituencies of Mysuru district and 4,35,554 voters from two constituencies in Kodagu district will be eligible to cast their vote come polling day.

Deputy Commissioner Abhiram G. Sankar, who is the Returning Officer, said at a press conference on Monday that the poll code would be enforced strictly and accordingly, teams have been constituted to keep a close watch on violations. The number of polling booths in the district (including Assembly constituencies which are part of Chamarajanagar and Mandya LS seats) has gone up from 2,687 to 2,921 booths, he added.

The Deputy Commissioner said assistant returning officers (AROs) for all Assembly constituencies in the district assumed charge on Monday.

Police Commissioner K.T. Balakrishna, Superintendent of Police Amit Singh, Zilla Panchayat CEO Jyothi, MCC Commissioner Shilpa Nag and others were present.

Mr. Sankar said sector officers, flying squads, static surveillance teams, video viewing teams, video surveillance teams and assistant election observers have been appointed to oversee the model code of conduct and candidates’ election expenditure. The flying squads and static surveillance teams will work on three shifts and the number of these squads and teams may go up in the coming days, based on requirement.

A control room – 1077 — has been set up at the Deputy Commissioner’s office. Control rooms in the remaining Assembly constituencies in the district will function in the respective taluk offices and at the office of Mysuru City Corporation (for the four Assembly constituencies coming under Mysuru city).

VVPATs in all booths

Mr. Sankar said VVPATs (Voter-verifiable paper audit trails) would be supplied to all polling booths. He added that BEL engineers recently examined the electronic voting machines (EVMs) in front of the representatives of various political parties. Mock polling will also be held in the presence of representatives of parties.

Voters can call 1950, the helpline of the District Contact Centre, for any inquiry pertaining to the electoral roll. This helpline will function round the clock, the DC said, adding that the EVMs have been stored at Nanjaraja Bahadur Choultry, which is under tight security and CCTV watch.

Mr. Sankar said social media platforms would also be under watch for model code of conduct violations.

Eye on transactions

Suspicious bank transactions will be under scrutiny and poll officers will track questionable cash deposits into bank accounts.

Cash deposits in multiple accounts, transfer of small amounts into various accounts, deposits into the accounts of self-help groups, and cooperative bank accounts and bank accounts becoming active with large cash deposits in the last two months will be under the scanner with the model code of conduct coming into effect, said Mr. Sankar.

He said agencies depositing cash in ATMs will also be under watch as details on transfer from currency chests to banks and vice-versa will be verified. People engaged in such transfers need to have valid ID cards, the DC said, adding that suspicious deposits above ₹1 lakh would be verified. A meeting of banking officials will be convened soon to pass on directions, the DC said.

Tribal polling booths

As in last year’s Assembly elections, tribal polling booths will be set up in tribal-dominated areas for the elections to Mysuru Lok Sabha seat. “We are yet to decide on their numbers, but such booths will be established this time too,” said the DC.

Booths portraying tribal cultures were set up in Hunsur and H.D. Kote taluks during the 2018 Assembly polls. Tribal leaders and voters had welcomed the move under Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation programme for drawing voters to polling booths.

Also, on the EC’s directive, steps will be taken to bring people with physical disabilities to the polling booths in government vehicles and drop them back at their homes after voting, Mr. Shankar said. The district has 18,932 disabled voters.