The polling for the biennial elections to two teachers’ constituencies of the Legislative Council were conducted on Sunday, as more than 90% of voters exercised their franchise.
In total, 30 candidates are in the fray and the elections were conducted at 227 polling stations. Around 2,200 staff and 2,400 police personnel were deployed on election duty. The counting of votes will be done on March 17 and the election process will be completed by March 22.
The elections are necessitated as the tenures of teachers’ constituencies represented by A.S. Ramakrishna (Krishna - Guntur), a TDP supported candidate, and Ramu Surya Rao (East & West Godavari) will expire on March 29.
Webcasting
Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) K. Vijayanand said that the elections were conducted in a peaceful manner. The poll proceedings were monitored through webcasting from the Secretariat.
As per the reports received by 4 p.m., 91.91% of the voters exercised their franchise in East and West Godavari teachers’ constituency, while 93.01% voting was recorded in Krishna and Guntur. The final poll percentage were yet to be announced, he said.
Elaborate arrangements were made for the elections and the COVID-19 protocols were followed strictly. Masks, gloves and sanitisers were provided to the polling staff.
In the Maoist-hit Rampachodavaram and Yatapaka divisions in East Godavari, and Kukunoor and Jangareddygudem in West Godavari district, voters were allowed to exercise their franchise from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Eleven candidates are in the fray in the East-West Godavari constituency. Nineteen candidates filed papers in the Krishna-Guntur constituency and 13,505 people were eligible to vote.
