Incident-free polling in Kadiri division

Anantapur: Polling for 169 gram panchayats and 983 wards in the Kadiri revenue division was incident-free and peaceful, thanks to the foolproof arrangements made by the district administration and the police.

The division recorded a polling percentage of 82.03. The turnout of voters in the panchayats was fairly good with the exception of those voters who are outside the district on migration in search of work and better avenues. Polling commenced at 6.30 am in the morning and ended by 3.30 pm.

Although the voting was dull in the first and second hours due to cold weather, the turnout picked-up after 8 am. Each voter has cast two votes one for the ward member and another for the sarpanch.

As many as 726 candidats are in the fray for 169 sarpanch posts in the 12 mandals in the Kadiri revenue division. According to unconfirmed sources, as many as 715 ward members in 1714 panchayats are said to be unanimously elected in the absence of rival candidates.

In all, 5,696 polling personnel worked in the first phase of the panchayat polls.

District Collector and Election Officer Gandham Chandrudu meanwhile visited several polling stations since morning including Nallamada polling centre in Nallamada mandal and interacted with voters to know whether they experienced any hassles for voting.

He also met the migrant labour who returned to their village to cast their vote and congratulated them for taking trouble to reach their native village just to vote.

He told the media at the village that the arrangements for the panchayat polls were voter and employee-friendly and that was the reason why the voter turnout was quite high. He said that DWAMA officials contacted migrant labourers for participating in the voting and made transport arrangements for their arrival in time.