Voters Turn Out Across Andhra Pradesh as Urban Local Body Elections Begin

UPDATE - follow-up to Polling begins for 100 urban local bodies in Andhra Pradesh | LIVE: Voting is underway for urban local body elections across Andhra Pradesh after the schedule was revised by the State Election Commission.

Turnout And Early Figures

Polling started at 7 a.m. on Sunday and will continue until 5 p.m. The elections cover 13 municipal corporations and 87 municipalities and nagar panchayats. Vote counting is set for November 3. Eight local bodies saw unanimous elections with chairpersons and ward members chosen unopposed in Allagadda, Dachepalli, Darsi, Gurajala, Kamalapuram, Piduguralla, Proddatur and Rayachoti. Early voter turnout figures showed varied trends by 9 a.m. Kurnool district registered 10.56%, with Kurnool Municipal Corporation at 11.15%, Yemmiganur at 11.97%, Adoni at 8.50%, and Gudur nagar panchayat at 8.49%. Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation recorded 3.34% in the first two hours. Tirupati reached 11.06%, Palnadu recorded 11.77%, and Guntur Municipal Corporation saw 5.21% with 32,237 voters exercising their franchise.

Official Actions And Security

District officials and police chiefs inspected polling stations to maintain order. Vijayawada District Collector G. Lakshmisha, District Election Expenditure Observer B. Vijay Kumar, and VMC Commissioner Dhyanachandra H.M. visited the distribution centre at Loyola College. Guntur Superintendent of Police Vakul Jindal visited stations including Mahaveer College, Muslim College, Anki Reddypalem High School and NGO Colony School. Vizianagaram set up 229 polling stations across 62 divisions with 1,649 officials on duty, where Collector S. Ramsundar Reddy and election observer Tej Bharat monitored the process under clear skies following the Arnab cyclone.

Context

These civic polls were originally scheduled for October 28 but were deferred by the Supreme Court after violent incidents during the nomination filing stage. As part of seat adjustments, the Mayoral posts for Greater Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada Municipal Corporations went to the TDP and Jana Sena Party respectively.