Elections to the six Urban Local Bodies, including Guntur Municipal Corporation, ended on Wednesday on a peaceful note barring a couple of stray incidents.
At the end of polling at 5 p.m., 61.67% of polling was recorded across the district. Vinukonda recorded the highest polling percentage of 77.30%, while Guntur recorded 57.15%, similar to the polling percentage recorded in 2005.
Voters lined up early on Wednesday in order to avoid the heat and crowds. The process of polling through ballot paper was time-consuming, but voters were seen waiting patiently at the polling booths.
“We are voting after nearly 15 years, and we are hoping that the elected corporator will do something for our ward,” said R. Seethamahalakshmi at Gorantla.
It is here that the YSRCP candidate is locked in a fierce battle with the Jana Sena and BJP combine which has fielded the daughter-in-law of former sarpanch of Gorantla, Yerramsetty Venugopal. Voter enthusiasm was high in the merged villages with women lining up early in the day.
Later in the day, TDP MP Galla Jayadev and his supporters reportedly tried to enter a polling booth on Amaravati Road. YSRCP leaders Lella Appireddy and others too reportedly rushed there but the police defused the situation.
Collector Vivek Yadav inspected the polling arrangements at Hindu College, Guntur, and at Tenali and Sattenapalli.
There was some confusion as many voters initially complained that the police were not allowing them to carry mobile phones, but later, the State Election Commission issued directions that voters can carry mobile phones inside the polling booth but only after switching them off.
