2.03 crore voters, 1,031 candidates, 20,632 polling booths set up for Haryana Assembly polls: CEO Pankaj Agarwal

Chandigarh (Haryana) [India], October 4 (ANI): Haryana's Chief Electoral Officer, Pankaj Agarwal, has said that the state is fully prepared for the upcoming 15th Legislative Assembly elections to be held on Saturday.
He emphasised that every vote counts and citizens should actively participate in this festival of democracy by exercising their franchise.
Agarwal stated that 2,03,54,350 voters, including 1,07,75,957 males, 95,77,926 females, and 467 third-gender voters, will cast their votes in the Assembly Elections on October 5. A total of 1,031 candidates are contesting across 90 constituencies, and 20,632 polling booths have been set up for the election.
The Chief Electoral Officer informed that on the day of voting, 100% of polling stations will be monitored through webcasting at three levels. Control rooms have been set up at the state, district, and assembly levels to ensure smooth monitoring during the elections.
Agarwal said that 225 companies of the Central Armed Police Forces have been deployed for security.
"To ensure a law and order situation and peaceful voting during the elections, 225 companies of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) have been deployed across the state. This includes 40 companies of CRPF, 25 of BSF, 45 of CISF, 35 of ITBP, 45 of SSB, and 35 companies of RPF. Additionally, 391 Static Surveillance Teams (SST) and 453 Flying Squad Teams (FST) have been deployed for surveillance. Vigilance is also being maintained with 133 checkpoints (Nakkas) on the state borders and 140 checkpoints within the state," he said.
The Chief Electoral Officer highlighted that Haryana Police has also made robust security arrangements to ensure that the Assembly Elections are conducted in a free, fair, and peaceful manner. A total of 29,462 police personnel, 21,196 home guards, and 10,403 Special Police Officers (SPO) have been deployed across the state. Strict surveillance will be maintained at every corner of the state to allow citizens to cast their votes without fear.
Agarwal announced that the 'Voters-in-Queue' app is available to help voters avoid long waiting times at polling booths, especially in urban areas. Citizens can use the app to check the status of queues at polling booths. The app updates the line status every 30 minutes. Any citizen from 30 urban legislative assemblies can monitor the queue status from the comfort of their homes using the app.
He further encouraged all voters in the state to vote on October 5, helping to strengthen Indian democracy. He said that voters uphold democratic traditions, and their participation is essential to strengthening democracy. "The upcoming election is a chance to further strengthen these traditions and fulfil our constitutional duties," he said.
The high-stakes campaigning for the single phase of polling in the Haryana Assembly elections concluded on Thursday evening, with voting set to take place for 90 constituencies.
As the campaigning for the Haryana polls ended, the BJP hopes to retain power for a third consecutive term while the Congress eyes a comeback after a decade-long hiatus.
The key contesting parties in Haryana include BJP, Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), as well as the pre-poll alliance between Indian National Lok Dal-Bahujan Samaj Party (INLD-BSP) and Jannayak Janta Party (JJP)-Azad Samaj Party (ASP).
The results for the Haryana Assembly elections will be declared along with those of Jammu and Kashmir on October 8. (ANI)