Polling continued till midnight in Andhra Pradesh

VIJAYAWADA: The state created a record of sorts when polling continued till late in the night on Thursday in about 400 polling stations across the state. One of the polling stations was at Jakkampudi in Vijayawada. Jakkampudi is part of Mylavaram assembly constituency.


The polling concluded around midnight in some polling stations in Guntur, Krishna, Nellore and Kurnool districts as authorities allowed all the voters standing in queues at 6pm to cast their votes.

Malfunctioning of EVMs and clashes led to the delay in about 400 polling stations in different parts of the state. Post 10pm voting continued at 267 booths across state.

Tension prevailed in Mangalagiri constituency in Guntur district, where chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu's son and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) candidate staged a protest against the failure of election authorities in making proper arrangements. Leaders of opposition

YSR Congress

Party (YSRCP) staged a counter protest.

Tension was also palpable at a booth in Vijayawada and in Kurnool district due to the clashes between rival groups.

As many as 25 incidents of violence marred polling for simultaneous elections to the 175-member Assembly and 25 Lok Sabha seats.

A worker from the TDP and another of the YSRCP were killed in violence in Anantapur and Chitoor districts.

More than a dozen others including senior TDP leader and Assembly Speaker Kodela Sivaprasad Rao were injured in clashes at various places.

Complaints of non-functioning of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and resultant delay at the start of polling were received from across the state.

Chief minister and TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu expressed his unhappiness over EVMs not functioning at several polling booths. He wrote a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner, demanding repoll in 150 booths.

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