Andhra Pradhes MLC polls end, votes will be counted on March 16

Amaravati: The elections for the Member of Legislative Council (MLC) seats in Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam ended on Monday at 4 pm.

The polling was held from 8 am to 4 pm, through the ballot system. The votes will be counted on March 16, said the officials.

Earlier on Sunday, the officials had said that the security arrangements are in place for the elections.

Talking to the media, the Tirupati District Collector Venkataramana Reddy told the media, after inspecting the polling booths in Padmavati Degree College, that all precautions have been taken to ensure that no untoward incidents take place during the polls.

“There are 138 polling booths in the district where two ballots are provided for each box and booth. The voters will exercise their right to vote without any issue. All the steps have been taken to make sure that no one is able to do fake voting,” he said.

Earlier, the Godavari sub-collector Surya Teja told the media, “Ahead of the MLC elections to be held on Monday in Narasapuram sub-division of West Godvaari district, the necessary arrangements are in force.

He said that there are a total of 229 voters in this sub-division.

“All 229 voters will exercise their right to vote in the polling booth set up by Narsapuram Mandal Parishad. Only the voters will be allowed inside, and the rest will have to stay away from the barricades placed so that they are 100 metres away from the polling booths,” he said.

The sub-collector also said that the ballot boxes will be moved to Eluru after the polling is done.

“In this polling booth, MLAs from Narasapuram Palakollu Achanta Tanuku constituency along with ZPTCs from Mogalthur, Narasapuram, Yalamanchili Palakollu Rural, Poduru, Achanta, Penugonda, Iragavaram, Tanuku mandals and Narasapuram councillors will vote,” he further said.

Money Distribution:

Visakhapatnam locals caught a man who was allegedly distributing cash on Sunday ahead of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council elections.

The locals handed him over to the police and they registered a case against him under the sections 171 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and 123 of the Representation of the People’s Act.

Members of CPI(M), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) accused and said that the YSR Congress Party is behind this incident and is trying to lure the voters by distributing money.

(With inputs from ANI)