ZPTC, MPTC elections in Andhra Pradesh by and large peaceful

An elderly woman arrives to cast her vote at a polling station during the MPTC and ZPTC elections at Ambapuram near Vijayawada on Thursday.

Elections to 582 Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituencies (ZPTCs) in the State conducted on Thursday were by and large peaceful barring sporadic incidents of violence, notably in the Rayalaseema region.

Of the 2,53,96,669 voters, 1,48,70,495 (58.55%) exercised their franchise in 30,994 polling stations by 3 p.m. as per the information furnished by the State Election Commission (SEC).

Those standing in queue lines at the close of polling (5 p.m.) at several places were given extra time to cast their votes. A total of 2,169 candidates were in the fray for the ZPTCs. The total number of ZPTCs is 659, of which 77 candidates were declared as unanimously elected.

There were stray incidents in Kadapa, Chittoor and some other districts, including the reported hurling of petrol bombs near a polling station near Pulivendula. Police personnel swung into action and dispersed the clashing activists of the TDP and the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP). Stone-throwing was reported in Jammalamadugu, Rajampeta, Railway Kodur and Badvel areas.

Tension prevailed in the Kotia group of villages bordering Odisha as a large number of supporters of various parties tried to obstruct polling due to a simmering dispute over which State the villages belong to. These villages fall in Salur constituency of Parvatipuram - Manyam district as per the States Reorganisation Act of 1956.

Polling was incident-free in the Maoist-affected areas in Polavaram and East Godavari dstricts, where special care was taken to transport voters to the polling stations which were not easily accessible. Heavy rain caused by the Murasu cyclone played spoilsport at many places as low-lying areas were inundated.

Voting took place amidst tight security arrangements made at 8,904 sensitive and 7,160 hypersensitive polling stations, a majority of which are in Rayalaseema, where violence marred the filing of nominations for elections to the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs).

A total of 7,767 Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituencies (MPTCs) went to polls, where 18,843 candidates were in the arena. The number of MPTCs is 9,821, of which 2,051 candidates were unanimously elected.

Earlier in the day, State Election Commissioner Anil Chandra Punetha inspected the voting at various polling stations in NTR and Krishna districts.