StatesAndhra Pradesh
Andhra parishad polls: 4.8% statewide by 9 am, NTR and Krishna cross 14% as queues build
Turnout in Andhra Pradesh's mandal and zilla parishad elections picked up through Thursday morning, with Anantapur leading the early count and voters in the Krishna delta complaining of missing voter slips.
Key points
- Andhra Pradesh recorded 4.8% turnout statewide by 9 am in the MPTC and ZPTC polls.
- NTR crossed 14% and Krishna 15% later in the morning, with long queues of women voters.
- Officials began handing out voter slips at the booths after complaints that they had not been delivered.
Voting in Andhra Pradesh’s mandal and zilla parishad elections got off to a slow start on Thursday, with 4.8% of voters statewide casting their ballots in the first two hours, before queues lengthened through the morning.
Anantapur led the 9 am count at 9.44%, ahead of Krishna at 8.21%, Chittoor at 7.30% and Kurnool at 7.23%. Districts hit by the rain of Cyclone Murasu lagged far behind: Eluru stood at 2.14%, East Godavari at 2.52% and Bapatla at just 1.38%.
By late morning the pace in the Krishna delta had picked up sharply. NTR district crossed 14% and Krishna 15%, with women voters standing in long queues at several polling stations. NTR is voting for 16 ZPTC and 276 MPTC seats, and Krishna for 26 ZPTC and 352 MPTC seats.
Missing slips
Voters in several villages complained that their voter slips had not been delivered in advance, leaving many unsure where to vote. Elderly people and women had the most trouble finding their booths, they said, and party workers did little to help. After the complaints, election officials began handing out slips near the booths.
Elsewhere, villagers objected to the arrival of outsiders at one polling area, and police broke up the gathering. Endowments Minister Anam Ramanarayana Reddy toured A.S. Pet mandal to look at the polling arrangements.
The opposition YSR Congress Party has accused TDP workers and the police of keeping its agents out of booths in Pulivendula and other mandals. Neither the TDP nor the police had answered those allegations by late morning.
About 2.61 crore voters are eligible to vote at more than 31,000 polling stations for 582 ZPTC and 7,767 MPTC seats. Polling closes at 5 pm, and votes will be counted on Saturday.