Fourth phase of the gram panchayat elections were held in a peaceful manner in the two districts of South Coastal Andhra Pradesh on Sunday.
However, intermittent showers due to depression in the Bay of Bengal and overcast sky all through the day brought down the voting percentage in Nellore district to 76% in the elections held in 12 mandals in Nellore Revenue Division for the 181 sarpanch and 1,527 ward member seats.
Volunteers of the Indian Red Cross Society rendered a yeomen service bringing old people and differently-abled persons on wheel chairs to the rain-soaked polling stations. Over 3.36 lakh voters voted by 3.30 p.m. when polling came to a close.
District Collector K.V.N.Chakradhar Babu along with Superintendent of Police Bharat Bhushan oversaw the polling process in, among other places, Buchireddypalem and Kodavalur mandals, while Joint Collector N. Prabhakar Reddy observed the polling process in Devarapalem, South Mopur and Pottipalem. One counting table for every 500 votes had been arranged to expedite declaration of the results, the Collector said.
Adhering to COVID-19 protocol, people waited in long queues to exercise their franchise in Markapur Revenue Division in Prakasam district for 168 sarpanch and 1,261 ward member seats for which 472 sarpanch candidates and 2,664 ward member candidates are contesting.
Polling started on a dull note initially but picked up later as an impressive voter turnout of 82.04% was registered in the district. It was 85.67% in Ardhaveedu mandal and 72 % in the villages in Kumarole mandal.
