StatesAndhra Pradesh
Andhra parishad polls reach 11.71% by 10 am; petrol bombs allegedly hurled near Erripalle booth
Chittoor led the state's turnout three hours into the mandal and zilla parishad polls, while Pulivendula and Gurajala saw clashes over YSRCP polling agents.
Key points
- Statewide turnout in the MPTC and ZPTC polls stood at 11.71% by 10 am.
- Petrol bombs were allegedly hurled near a polling booth in Erripalle, Pulivendula, setting off panic and clashes.
- In Gurajala, YSRCP activists clashed with police over polling agents being kept out.
Turnout in Andhra Pradesh’s mandal and zilla parishad elections reached 11.71% by 10 am on Thursday, three hours after polling opened, as trouble flared in Pulivendula and Palnadu district.
Chittoor district was ahead of the rest of the state with 15.12% at 10 am. Bapatla was the slowest at 7.34%. Earlier in the morning, NTR and Krishna districts had crossed 14% and 15% respectively, with women voters queuing at several booths.
Panic in Erripalle
In Erripalle, in Pulivendula, petrol bombs were allegedly hurled near a polling booth, setting off panic and clashes outside the station. Police kept YSRCP workers from entering the booth. No injuries have been reported, and the police have not said who threw the bombs.
Pulivendula is the home turf of former chief minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, and the YSRCP had already accused TDP workers and the police in the first hours of polling of keeping its agents out of booths there.
In Gurajala, YSRCP activists clashed with police, saying their authorised polling agents were being turned away. Police told them agents could not enter in groups and warned the protesters that they would be arrested for breaking election rules.
Officials on the ground
Elsewhere, voting was calmer. In Prakasam district, which logged 10.8% by 9 am, Collector P. Raja Babu inspected booths in Kondamudusupalem in Kandukur division, while Endowments Minister Anam Ramanarayana Reddy toured A.S. Pet mandal.
The State Election Commission has deployed more than two lakh polling staff across 31,460 polling stations, 8,904 of them marked sensitive and 7,160 hyper-sensitive. Extra forces have been sent to Palnadu, Annamayya, YSR Kadapa and Tirupati districts.
About 2.61 crore voters are choosing among 21,012 candidates for 582 ZPTC and 7,767 MPTC seats. Polling closes at 5 pm. Any repoll will be held on Friday, and votes will be counted on 7 November.