LS polls: Over 1.80 crore voters in Haryana eligible to cast votes in 10 seats

Over 1.80 crore voters in Haryana are eligible to exercise their right to franchise in the Lok Sabha polls, with over 6 lakh electors being added this year, a poll official said here Tuesday.

As many as 1,80,56,896 registered electors will be eligible to case their votes in the general elections for the 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana, polling for which will be held in the sixth phase on May 12.

Out of the total voter strength, 97,16,516 are males, 83,40,173 females, 207 transgenders and 1.05 lakh service voters, Joint Chief Electoral Officer Inder Jeet said.

He said as a result of the Systematic Voters' Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) programme held in all 22 districts of the state, 6,08,603 new electors have been registered after January 31 this year.

Referring to the age-group wise number of electors in the state, Jeet said three lakh electors are in the age group of 18-19 years.

He said the number of such electors was 1.40 lakh as on January 31, whereas 1.60 lakh new electors in this age group registered themselves during this period up to April 23, which shows "tremendous craze" among the youth for elections this time.

Jeet said 38.96 lakh electors are in the age group of 20-29 years, 44.38 lakh in the age group of 30-39 years, 35.46 lakh in the age group of 40-49 years, 27.86 lakh in the age group of 50-59 years, 17.31 lakh in the age group of 60-69 years, 8.87 lakh in the age group of 70-79 years and 4.27 lakh electors above 80 years of age.

The joint chief electoral officer said as many as 19,433 polling stations have been set up in the state for the May 12 Lok Sabha elections.

He said 5,502 polling stations have been set up in urban areas and 13,931 in rural areas.

Jeet said a total of 223 candidates are in the fray from the 10 Lok Sabha seats in the state, with the maximum number of 29 candidates from Sonipat and lowest 16 from Karnal.

Additional Chief Secretary, Home Department, Haryana, S S Prasad and Director General of Police Manoj Yadava will jointly hold a video conference to review the poll preparedness with police officers of the rank of SP and above on May 2.

Besides law and order, keeping a strong vigil on suspicious and anti-social elements in the state would also be discussed with the district police chiefs and other senior officers during the conference, Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Navdeep Singh Virk said.

He said other issues to be discussed include coordination between various government departments and police for smooth conduct of the polls, precautionary and preparatory measures for VVIP/VIP security, implementation of the model code of conduct, arrangement of safe storage and security of EVMs, especially after the polling until counting, and sealing of inter-state borders.