Over 65 percent polling in Andhra Pradesh
0 commentsOver 65 percent of 31.2 million electors Thursday cast their votes in the first phase of elections in Andhra Pradesh where ballotting was held for 22 Lok Sabha and 154 assembly constituencies.Barring minor incidents of violence, the polling remained peaceful. No radical leftwing violence was reported from any part of the state, once a stronghold of the Maoist movement in the country.Polling ended at 4 p.m. However, in some polling booths officials allowed those standing in the queue to cast their votes even after the scheduled time.
The state’s Chief Electoral Officer I.V. Subba Rao told reporters this evening that polling was still on in 300 to 400 polling centres as authorities extended the timing in view of the delay caused in the morning due to technical snags in electronic voting machines(EVMs).
He said 65 percent of the 31.2 million voters, half of them women, cast their votes, sealing the fate of 2,148 candidates including 315 for the Lok Sabha.The final poll percentage will be known after 9 p.m., he said.
The Medak Lok Sabha constituency recorded highest poll percentage of 75 while Hyderabad recorded the lowest at 54 percent."The polling was peaceful and smooth except for an incident in the Nagarkurnool Lok Sabha constituency," he said.
Hyderabad and nine other districts in Telangana as well as three districts of north coastal Andhra bordering Orissa went to polls in the first phase.
The ruling Congress party and the four-party alliance led by the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) are locked in a neck-and-neck battle in the first phase. The Praja Rajyam Party of superstar Chiranjeevi is the third major political force.
Among the prominent Lok Sabha candidates are central ministers S. Jaipal Reddy, Renuka Chowdhury and D. Purandareswari, Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) president K. Chandrasekhara Rao and state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Bandaru Dattatreya.
In the Alampur assembly segment of the Nagarkurnool Lok Sabha constituency in Mahbubnagar district, villagers attacked polling stations and damaged EVMs. The polling had to be stopped in 17 polling centres. The incident occurred in Aiza area where people were protesting their inclusion in the Alampur constituency in the delimitation process.
Subba Rao said the matter was referred to the Election Commission, which will take a decision on re-poll in these booths.Re-poll is also likely in a few other booths where the poll officials failed to operate EVMs as per the guidelines or committed some mistakes.
Clashes between activists of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) were reported in some places in the Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency. There were reports of similar clashes between Congress and TDP activists in some constituencies. The polling, however, was not affected.More than 60,000 policemen and 123 companies of paramilitary forces were deployed as part of the massive security arrangements.
Though the Maoist movement has considerably weakened in the state, police are on high alert, especially in areas bordering Chhattisgarh and Orissa.Four helicopters were put on standby to ferry men and material as a precautionary measure but they were not used.
TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu, Chiranjeevi and his family members, CEO Subba Rao, Director General of Police A.K. Mohanty and several others cast their votes in Hyderabad.
Popular actor and TDP star campaigner ’Junior NTR’ came to a polling station on a stretcher and cast his vote. The star, who was injured in a road accident, reached the centre in an ambulance.The second phase of polls April 23 will cover 20 Lok Sabha and 150 assembly constituencies in south coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema.Counting will be taken up May 16.
The state’s Chief Electoral Officer I.V. Subba Rao told reporters this evening that polling was still on in 300 to 400 polling centres as authorities extended the timing in view of the delay caused in the morning due to technical snags in electronic voting machines(EVMs).
He said 65 percent of the 31.2 million voters, half of them women, cast their votes, sealing the fate of 2,148 candidates including 315 for the Lok Sabha.The final poll percentage will be known after 9 p.m., he said.
The Medak Lok Sabha constituency recorded highest poll percentage of 75 while Hyderabad recorded the lowest at 54 percent."The polling was peaceful and smooth except for an incident in the Nagarkurnool Lok Sabha constituency," he said.
Hyderabad and nine other districts in Telangana as well as three districts of north coastal Andhra bordering Orissa went to polls in the first phase.
The ruling Congress party and the four-party alliance led by the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) are locked in a neck-and-neck battle in the first phase. The Praja Rajyam Party of superstar Chiranjeevi is the third major political force.
Among the prominent Lok Sabha candidates are central ministers S. Jaipal Reddy, Renuka Chowdhury and D. Purandareswari, Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) president K. Chandrasekhara Rao and state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Bandaru Dattatreya.
In the Alampur assembly segment of the Nagarkurnool Lok Sabha constituency in Mahbubnagar district, villagers attacked polling stations and damaged EVMs. The polling had to be stopped in 17 polling centres. The incident occurred in Aiza area where people were protesting their inclusion in the Alampur constituency in the delimitation process.
Subba Rao said the matter was referred to the Election Commission, which will take a decision on re-poll in these booths.Re-poll is also likely in a few other booths where the poll officials failed to operate EVMs as per the guidelines or committed some mistakes.
Clashes between activists of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) were reported in some places in the Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency. There were reports of similar clashes between Congress and TDP activists in some constituencies. The polling, however, was not affected.More than 60,000 policemen and 123 companies of paramilitary forces were deployed as part of the massive security arrangements.
Though the Maoist movement has considerably weakened in the state, police are on high alert, especially in areas bordering Chhattisgarh and Orissa.Four helicopters were put on standby to ferry men and material as a precautionary measure but they were not used.
TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu, Chiranjeevi and his family members, CEO Subba Rao, Director General of Police A.K. Mohanty and several others cast their votes in Hyderabad.
Popular actor and TDP star campaigner ’Junior NTR’ came to a polling station on a stretcher and cast his vote. The star, who was injured in a road accident, reached the centre in an ambulance.The second phase of polls April 23 will cover 20 Lok Sabha and 150 assembly constituencies in south coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema.Counting will be taken up May 16.
LS polls: Polling begins amid tight security
0 commentsStaggered polling began on Thursday morning for the first phase of elections across 15 states and two union territories to elect a new Lok Sabha as also legislative assemblies in Andhra Pradesh and Orissa amid tight security.
Voting began at 0700 hrs in 124 constituencies in the first round of the five-phase elections and would end at 1700 hrs in most places, except in naxal-infested areas where it would close at 1500 hrs.
Public canvassing for votes was prohibited 38 hours before the start of polling, but political and civil society activists continued to exhort voters to exercise their franchise.
Over 14.31 crore voters are eligible to cast their votes today across 1.85 lakh polling stations set up by the Election Commission and secured by tens of thousands of police personnel.
While all 20 seats in Kerala, 11 in Chhattisgarh and two in Meghalaya are going to polls in a single phase on Thursday, polling would be held in 13 out of 40 seats in Bihar, 16 out of 80 in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra 13 (48), Andhra Pradesh 22 (42), Jharkhand 6 (14), Orissa 10 (21), Assam 3 (14), Arunachal Pradesh 2 (2), Manipur 1 (2) and Jammu and Kashmir 1 (6). Polling is also underway to 154 assembly segments in Andhra and 70 in Orissa.
As many as 1,715 candidates, including 122 women, are in the fray in the first phase with the prominent names being RJD's Lalu Prasad, Murli Manohar Joshi of BJP and Telangana Rashtra Samiti chief K Chandrasekhar Rao.
Voting began at 0700 hrs in 124 constituencies in the first round of the five-phase elections and would end at 1700 hrs in most places, except in naxal-infested areas where it would close at 1500 hrs.
Public canvassing for votes was prohibited 38 hours before the start of polling, but political and civil society activists continued to exhort voters to exercise their franchise.
Over 14.31 crore voters are eligible to cast their votes today across 1.85 lakh polling stations set up by the Election Commission and secured by tens of thousands of police personnel.
While all 20 seats in Kerala, 11 in Chhattisgarh and two in Meghalaya are going to polls in a single phase on Thursday, polling would be held in 13 out of 40 seats in Bihar, 16 out of 80 in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra 13 (48), Andhra Pradesh 22 (42), Jharkhand 6 (14), Orissa 10 (21), Assam 3 (14), Arunachal Pradesh 2 (2), Manipur 1 (2) and Jammu and Kashmir 1 (6). Polling is also underway to 154 assembly segments in Andhra and 70 in Orissa.
As many as 1,715 candidates, including 122 women, are in the fray in the first phase with the prominent names being RJD's Lalu Prasad, Murli Manohar Joshi of BJP and Telangana Rashtra Samiti chief K Chandrasekhar Rao.
Grand alliance full of schemes
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With campaigning set to end on Tuesday for the first phase of polling on April 16, the grand alliance partners are shouting from roof tops the virtues of two of their sops — free colour TVs and cash transfer — even as the Congress is vehemently trying to undo it. Though TDP, TRS and Left parties focused on other issues at the beginning of their campaign , as the polling day nears, they are tom toming about free colour TVs and cash scheme. Even the TV ads of the TDP speak endlessly of only the cash scheme. “In one go, the scheme will put an end to child labour, help children study and bail out the poverty-stricken families,” is the message of the ads. The grand alliance is also telling the electorate that the cash transfer scheme is ten times more beneficial than the national rural employment guarantee (NREG) scheme launched by the UPA government. "Through NREG, workers would get only Rs 10,000 a year as they get only 100 days of work. But the TDP’s cash transfer scheme will give each BPL family Rs 24,000 per year, which is equal to 240 days of work at the rate of Rs 100 per day," said a TDP leader. TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao told the voters in Asifabad in Adilabad district on Sunday: “If you fall prey to a liquor bottle from the Congress, you would lose a colour TV and bonanza in the form of cash.” On its part, the Congress is doing its best to counter the campaign. YSR and other leaders are attacking the scheme vehemently by dubbing it as unimplementable and harmful. “They are not able to show the source of funds for the schemes,” the CM ridiculed. The Congress has roped in cultural troupes to counter the the alliance. One such troupe performing at a meeting where Rahul Gandhi was the chief guest held out that viewing TV was harmful for children. Another troupe on Saturday asked people not to fall for TVs. Attacking the cash scheme, finance minister Rosaiah said Naidu was fooling people without revealing the source of funding.
Money replaces air in tyre tubes
0 commentsPushed to the wall by a vigilant police working under an EC- appointed director general of police, political parties have devised novel ways to hoodwink police to carry cash to distribute among voters. Innovative methods include transporting cash in ambulances, RTC buses and stuffing small bundles of currency into spare tyres of four and two-wheelers. Taking hi-tech route, the politicians are also transferring cash online to a local party supporter. Another method is to deposit cash directly into the accounts of self-help group members. RTC buses have become a favourite conduit as it is difficult for the police to spot a passenger carrying a large amount of cash. "This is being resorted to in districts. A party worker carrying a large bag of cash will easily blend with long-distance passengers carrying big luggage," said a poll manager. Ambulance is another favourite mode of smuggling money. Police were staggered to find Rs 2.3 crore from an ambulance on Sunday night. In Hyderabad and on its outskirts, cash is being transported in small amounts by stuffing them into spare tyres. “In the first instance, money is divided into small amounts depending on the denomination. Several party workers carry them and finally deposit it at the residence of a local leader in the constituency. The voters are then given chits which they exchange for money at a local leader’s residence. This way, at no point is a large amount of cash falls in the hands of police,” said one leader. Stuffing the cash bundles into tubes and then inserting them into spare tyres of both four and two-wheelers is another method. “Transporting cash in small amounts and concealing them in vehicles is happening in urban areas including Hyderabad. Some clever leaders are also getting false bottoms made by mechanics in their vehicles to smuggle cash,” said a leader. In many places in districts, money is being transferred into the bank account of a local leader. “In many cases, they happen to be traders. They then surreptitiously distribute it to voters. In the coastal and Rayalaseema regions, money is being deposited in the bank accounts of a prominent and loyal self-help group leader who then breaks it up and passes onwards. On Monday, the campaign managers of all major parties were on overdrive. “The voters are demanding cash today as the liquor shops will close for the next three days. Besides, we need to stock some ourselves as the night before polling day is crucial,” said one manager.
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