Repolling at 5 polling booths in Andhra Pradesh sees voter turnout of 81.48%

Repolling was conducted in Andhra Pradesh on Monday at five booths in Guntur, Prakasam and Nellore districts. Collectors of the three districts had recommended a repoll following episodes of violence, malfunctioning of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and other reasons that had hampered the voting process on April 11. In Guntur district, polling was held at polling station number 94 for Narsaraopet Assembly segment and parliamentary constituencies, which saw 89.23% voter turnout. At polling booth number 244 for Guntur West Assembly and Guntur parliamentary constituencies, 75.43 % turnout was recorded. In Prakasam district, polling took place at polling booth number 247 for Yerragondlapalem Assembly and Ongole Parliamentary constituencies, where 87.01 % turnout was observed. In Nellore district, at booth number 41 of Kovvuru Assembly and Nellore Parliamentary Constituencies, 75.55% turnout was observed, and polling booth number 197 for Sullurupeta Assembly and Tirupati Parliamentary Constituencies saw a turnout of 84.23%. According to Andhra Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Gopal Krishna Dwivedi, there were a total of 5,064 voters in these booths, of which 4,126 voters exercised their franchise on Monday. The election authorities had made adequate security arrangements at all five booths to prevent any violence. According to Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Ravi Shankar Ayyanar, 1,200 police personnel were deployed to ensure smooth and peaceful re-polling. Elections for all the 175 Assembly and 25 Lok Sabha constituencies across Andhra Pradesh were held in a single phase on April 11. On April 11, violence erupted in Guntur’s Narasaraopet constituency when TDP candidate Aravind Babu was allegedly attacked by YSRCP workers. This called for repolling in Guntur, while faulty EVMs was reported in Prakasam and Nellore districts.