2nd phase Panchayat Raj polls pass off peacefully in Amaravati

Amaravati: The second phase of polling for 2,786 panchayats in Andhra Pradesh ended peacefully with 81. 61 per cent voter turnout. The State Election Commission (SEC), in a statement here on Saturday, however, did not provide the total number of eligible voters. Andhra Pradesh Director-General of Police Gautam Sawang, in a statement, said the second phase of polls ended peacefully. According to the figures provided by the SEC, Prakasam district witnessed the highest turnout with 86.60 per cent while Srikakulam saw 72.87 per cent.

Polling began at 6.30 am and ended at 3.30 pm. The counting of votes began at 4 pm, a poll official said. Elections were also held to elect 20,817 ward members. With two phases being over, the polls would be conducted in another two phases till February 21. Though the elections were to be held for 3,328 panchayat sarpanches, 539 have been unanimously elected while no nominations were filed for three villages, an official press release said on Friday. As many as 7,507 candidates contested for sarpanch posts and 44. 876 were in the fray for ward members.

The elections were held using ballot paper and without any political party symbols. Totally, 29,304 polling stations were set up out of which 5,480 have been identified as sensitive and 4,181 as hypersensitive, the release had said. All necessary precautions were in place as per Covid-19 protocols amid tight security. Meanwhile, the SEC issued orders directing the Krishna (rural) district police to register a case against state Civil Supplies Minister Kodali Venkateswara Rao for his alleged derogatory remarks against the poll body under Section 504 (intentionally insulting) and 506 (criminal intimidation), among others.