Andhra MLC election: All set for polling; over 10.57L people to exercise franchise

Amaravati: The stage is all set for the MLC election in Andhra Pradesh on Monday.

Around 10,57,720 voters will exercise their franchise at 1538 polling centers. The polling will be from 8 am to 4 pm to fill three graduates, two teachers, and three local body seats.

The government has declared a holiday for government staff in the 11 districts where the polling will take place. The counting will take place on March 16.

Chief Electoral Officer Mukesh Kumar Meena said senior IAS officers have been appointed as election observers for all the constituencies where polling is being held.

“A total of 108 candidates are contesting for 3 graduate positions, 20 candidates for 2 teacher positions, and 11 candidates for 3 local body positions in the election A total of 10,00,519 graduate voters will exercise their right to vote for the three graduate posts, 55,842 voters for the two teacher posts and 3,059 voters for the three local body constituencies”, said Mukesh Kumar.

Five seats declared unanimous:

Earlier, five candidates on the local-body quota — Anantapur, Kadapa, Chittoor, Nellore, and East Godavari -- have already been declared unanimous. Those include S Mangamma from Anantapur, Ponnapureddy Ramasubba Reddy from Kadapa, Meriga Muralidhar in Nellore, Kudipudi Suryanarayana Rao from East Godavari, and Sipayi Subrahmanyam in Chittoor.

Polling constituencies:

-Polling will be held for graduate constituencies of Srikakulam-Vijayanagaram-Visakhapatnam, Prakasam-Nellore-Chittoor, Kadapa-Anantapur-Kurnool for three

-Two teacher constituencies for Prakasam-Nellore-Chittoor, Kadapa-Anantapur-Kurnool for

-Local authority constituencies for Srikakulam, West Godavari, Kurnool

Polling stations:

-1,172 polling stations for the election of 3 graduate positions

-351 polling stations for the election of 2 teacher positions

-15 polling stations for the election of 3 local body positions.

Mukesh Kumar said: “Out of the total 1,538 polling stations, 584 polling stations have been identified as problematic. Arrangements have been made for videography outside the polling stations. Strong security measures have also been taken.”

Besides, voters can prove their identity by using ten types of I-cards, he said.

Restrictions for 48 hours:

During 48 hours, no person will be allowed to attend any public meeting, door-to-door canvassing, or procession in connection with an election. No political campaigner is allowed to stay in the constituency. Transmission of bulk SMSs of political nature has been prohibited. Liquor shops in poll-going districts will be closed.

MCC violation:

Till now, Rs 77,48,010 cash and 1,02,819.05 liters of liquor have been seized. Sixty-four excise cases were filed, and 75 people have been arrested.

Opposition allegations

In an open letter to the Chief Election Commissioner, TDP supremo Nara Chandrababu Naidu said there are bogus and fake voters present in the constituencies. “It is high time to remove fake and bogus voters from the voter list. These voters have been included by ruling YSRCP and a section of government employees that are on election duties”, the letter read.

Earlier, a complaint was lodged with the office of the Chief Electoral Officer, Andhra Pradesh, regarding bogus votes with forged documents for which the concerned District Collector was directed to inquire into the issue, “Till now, no action has been initiated. Electoral Officer, without conducting proper verification, had included bogus/fake voters,” Naidu alleged.