Vijayawada/Nellore : Stray incidents mar Atmakur bypoll
Women stand in queue lines at Gandhi Girijana Sangam polling centre in Sangam mandal on Thursday
Vijayawada/Nellore : AP Chief Electoral Officer Mukesh Kumar Meena said Atmakur byelections was held peacefully except stray incidents of violence. By the end of the day, 64.17 per cent of polling was registered.
Speaking to media persons at the Secretariat here on Thursday, the CEO said 14 candidates remained in the fray and polling percentage at 5 pm stood at 61.70. He said technical problems were reported in nine EVMs.
Strong room was set up at Andhra Engineering College, Atmakur. The CEO said 123 critical polling stations were identified and 131 polling stations were declared critical. He said 38 complaints were received through web portal. Services of 1,339 polling staff, 1,100 policemen and three companies of Central forces were utilised in the byelections, he added.
Meanwhile, there was a heated exchange between Mekapati Rajareddy, uncle of YSRCP candidate Vikram Reddy and BJP candidate G Bharat Kumar at booth No. 9 in Batasinganapalli village.
BJP candidate warned that they won't keep quiet if ruling party resorts to irregularities in polling. He charged that Rajareddy has been threatening party leaders and cadres.
Bharat Kumar said Rajareddy resides in Bengaluru, and he should keep in mind that BJP is in power there. Intense arguments and fisticuffs were also witnessed at DC Palli in Marripadu Mandal between BJP candidate Bharat Kumar and YSRCP cadres at a polling centre. Police intervened and disbursed the mob.
Further, tense situation prevailed in Krishnapuram village of Marripadu mandal where a BJP agent was allegedly kidnapped by ruling party leaders. Agent Vishnu was being taken in a car but BJP candidate Bharat Kumar noticed him at Timmanaidupet and stopped the vehicle and saved Vishnu. He reported the incident to the police.
District collector KVN Chakradhar Babu visited various villages along with officials. Guntur IG Trivikram Varma, SP Ch Vijaya Rao and Joint director of SEB Sri Lakshmi also visited various polling stations in the constituency and observed the conditions. More than 200 volunteers from the Indian Red Cross local branch participated in election duties.