Andhra Pradesh heaves a sigh of relief

Amaravati: Polling in Andhra Pradesh was by and large peaceful on Thursday barring sporadic incidents in about 25 places. Two party workers, one belonging to TDP and the other from YSRCP were killed in a clash. During the morning hours technical problems in EVMs were noticed at many places hampering the poll process in some booths resulting in slow pace of polling.

But at the end of the day the voting percentage officially is estimated to be around 76 per cent but there is possibility that it may touch 80 per cent. The EC has decided to continue polling in a few booths till 11 pm on account of a few glitches experience in the EVMs. There is a possibility of repolling in six polling stations.

Though both the main contenders, TDP and YSRCP had some tense moments till afternoon not knowing which way the wind was blowing, the situation as regards turnout of voters is concerned underwent a change and large number of women and senior citizens were seen thronging to the polling stations and waiting in the queue for their turn patiently.

By 1 pm about 41 per cent polling was recorded for the 25 Lok Sabha and 175 Assembly seats. State Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Gopal Krishna Dwivedi said there were some glitches in functioning of 381 electronic voting machines which were rectified subsequently.

Clashes occurred mostly in Rayalaseema areas. The deceased have been identified as Pulla Reddy of YSR Congress party and Sidda Bhaskar Reddy of the TDP, according to police sources. TDP president and Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu condemned the killing of his party worker and accused the YSR Congress of indulging in violence to win the election.

The YSRC alleged that followers of local TDP MP and MLA, the JC brothers (MP J C Diwakar Reddy and MLA J C Prabhakar Reddy), tried to rig the votes in a polling booth at Veerapuram in Anantapuram district.

Another YSRC worker was also injured in the incident, the party alleged in a statement. Additional police forces have been rushed to the village to bring the situation under control.

In Sattenapalli constituency, some people allegedly belonging to YSRCP attacked speaker Kodela Sivaprasad. His glasses were broken and shirt was torn.

Clashes broke out between workers of TDP and YSR Congress at various places in the State as voting got underway. In Guntakal, former MLA and contesting candidate of Jana Sena Party, Madhusudan Gupta, destroyed an EVM in a fit of rage alleging that party symbols were not properly printed on the ballot unit. He also shouted at the polling personnel on duty. Gupta was immediately taken into custody, police said.

A mandal parishad member of YSRC was seriously injured when TDP workers allegedly attacked him at a polling station in Eluru city. In Jammalamadugu in Kadapa district, tension prevailed in Ponnathota village as YSRC and TDP workers indulged in stone-throwing. In Narsaraopet constituency in Guntur district, YSRC leaders alleged TDP men ransacked a polling station in Yelamanda village and damaged the furniture.

Police personnel were also preventing YSRC sympathisers from entering into the polling booth, they alleged. Minor trouble was also reported at a few other constituencies in Guntur, Prakasam and Anantapuram districts.

An interesting factor in this election was that women and senior citizens who had gone back without casting their vote in the morning hours due to technical glitches had come back in large numbers in the evening and exercised their franchise. According to CEO Gopalakrishna Dwivedi, the polling in Maoists-affected areas passed off peacefully.

As regards re-polling, the Election Commission has received certain complaints and will scrutinise the reports of presiding officers, register of votes polled, web casting or video recordings etc and will send the recommendation to the Election Commission of India. If need be repolling will be held on Saturday.