Anantapur witnesses 70% polling

Anantapur: The civic body polls recorded 70 per cent of voting by the time polling ended at 5 pm in the district. The polling is incident-free and peaceful. This is said to be the highest polling percentage in the history of municipal polls in the district and usually the polling percentage in urban local body elections did not exceed 60 per cent and in some elections it is lesser. District Election Returning Officer and Collector Gandham Chandrudu says due to creation awareness among voters, this election was able to witness large turnout of voters in municipal towns and cities, particularly among educated youth, who are the first time voters.

The average voting percentage was 56.93 per cent by 3 pm in the district. Polling which started at 7 am on Wednesday witnessed voter turn-out of 28.44 per cent by 11 am and by 1 pm the polling percentage increased to 45.42 per cent. There are 358 municipal wards in 10 municipalities in the district, out of which 21 wards were declared unanimously elected. About 2.40 lakh voters have exercised their franchise.

Kalyandurg MLA Usha Sri was confined to her home by the SEC on receiving complaints against her that she was visiting polling booths and influencing voters. The SEC order was conveyed to her by RDO Rammohan.

District Collector Gandham Chandrudu visited several polling booths in the city as well as in Tadipatri and other towns to monitor the polling percentage. Despite clear instructions from the collector Chandrudu to permit voters carrying cell phones, police personnel in several booths did not permit voters to enter the booth despite switching off their cell phones.

Large contingent of police personnel were posted at all the polling centres giving no scope to move around for anti-social elements. For all the total 337 municipal wards which went to polls as many as 1,131 candidates are in the fray. Also 6,357 polling personnel participated in the smooth conduct of polling. District administration declared holiday to enable voters to participate in the polling. There are reports of voters being paid from Rs 500 to Rs 2,000 per vote by the TDP and YSRCP parties. Political parties organised auto rickshaws and cars to transport voters to concerned polling booths.