Polling peaceful in Nellore

Nellore: The second phase of gram panchayat elections went off peacefully in the district barring a few sporadic incidents in Atmakur division on Saturday. Two groups from the ruling party resorted to fisticuffs in AS Pet Mandal and in remaining places the polling went off peacefully registering 78.15 per cent of polling on Saturday.

Ruling party leaders of Chiramana village in AS Pet Mandal resorted to fisticuffs when there was a dispute surfaced between two groups. Two groups were competing for sarpanch position as there was no consensus on candidate. When a member from another group was loitering in the polling station, another group raised objection over the issue. The disagreement had turned out to be a fight between the two groups and members started exchange heated arguments. At one point of time, people started quarreling with each other and fisticuffs and police managed the situation resorting to a slight lathi charge. No one hurt in the incident, according to the police.

Polling was conducted for 158 sarpanch and 999 ward positions on Saturday and officials arranged 1,499 polling stations in the division. 4,152 polling staff, 30 zonal officers, 73 route officers, 112 micro observers, and 1,321 police personnel were deputed for the polls. Officials arranged webcasting in 50 polling stations and video coverage in 70 stations. More than 100 volunteers from the Red Cross volunteers were also deployed for assisting the elderly and the physically challenged.