10 districts of Punjab declared sensitive for local bodies' polls

12 Aug, 2005

Ten districts of Punjab including Faisalabad have been declared sensitive for the local bodies elections in the province. According to an official source, in a high level meeting it was decided to call troops in 10 districts of Punjab including Jhang, D.G. Khan, Rajanpur and Bahawalpur, Lahore, Multan, Sargodha, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad and Gujranwala.
CEC however disagreed with a proposal by DROs for calling military in the entire province on the polling day, said official source.
In a directive, CEC directed civil and police administration to observe impartiality and play their due role for holding transparent elections. He warned disciplinary action against any official found responsible for partial behaviour.
CEC also directed the provincial administration for strict enforcement of the code of conduct and called for action against the candidates using banners, signboards, loudspeakers and holding processions and public meetings during their election campaign.
According to official source, in the first phase of local councils elections over 70,000 policemen will be deployed at 18000 polling stations of the province. Police mobiles and armed motorcycle squads will patrol outside the polling stations.

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