AP: 66% voter turnout recorded in simultaneous polls

The first phase of 2019 general elections, for 175 Assembly and 25 Parliamentary seats in Andhra Pradesh, concluded amid incidents of violence on Thursday. Though a voter turnout of 66 per cent was recorded, EC said the figure is expected to rise.

Amaravati:Voting for simultaneous polls in Andhra Pradesh consluded on Thursday, amid reports of violence. The Electin Commission announced that a turnout of 66 per cent was recorded, although the figure is expected to increase.

Andhra Pradesh will be witnessing simultaneous polls for both its 175 assembly and 25 parliamentary seats in the first phase. More than 3.93 crore voters in Andhra Pradesh will decide the fortunes of 319 candidates for the Lok Sabha seats and 2,118 candidates for Assembly polls. Authorities have set up 46,120 polling stations, of which 9,000 booths are considered sensitive.

UPDATES:

• 5:00 PM - 55per centvoter turnout till 3 pm in Andhra Pradesh

• 4:30 - Fresh Clash in Guntur
  In yet another case of violence in Andhra Pradesh, one YSR Congress worker was injured after a clash broke out between TDP and YSRCP workers in Guntur district. According to reports, the clash broke out between workers of TDP and YSRCP at a polling station in Guntur district's Srinivasapuram Village. The injured YSRCP worker has been taken to hospital and is currently availing treatment.

• 4:00 PM - CM Naidu complains against YSRCP
  In a letter to Andhra Pradesh Director General of Police (DGP) RP Thakur, TDP chief and Chief Minister Chandrababu Nadiu accused YSR Congress leaders of indulging in violence and damaging electronic voting machines (EVMs)

372 EVM failures at polling booths across the state

Polling officials faced issues with EVMs in constituencies such as Raptadu, Mangalagiri, Visakhapatnam East, Araku, Kuppam (CM Chandrababu Naidu's constituency) and few other areas, resulting in the delay of polling. Sources say that polling was delayed for nearly an hour in booths across the state and the Chief Electoral Officer Gopal Krishna Dwivedi took stock of the situation and initiated measures to rectify them.

Dwivedi cast his vote in Tadepalli and said there were complaints about technical glitches in 372 EVMs in about 50 places. "Technical teams were on the job to rectify the defects and enable polling," he added.

AP CM Naidu and Opposition leader Jagan cast their votes

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) National President Chandrababu Naidu, accompanied by his family members, cast his vote in Undavalli of Amaravati. His son, IT and Panchayat Raj Minister Nara Lokesh, who is contesting from Mangalagiri constituency in 2019 general elections expressed confidence over their party's win.

"It will be a decisive win in Mangalgiri (assembly seat) and also across the state. I am here to convince my electorate that I am a meaningful and a worthy candidate, and I think I've done that," he said, while speaking to the media.

TDP's MP candidate from Vijayawada Kesineni Srinivas cast his vote at a polling booth in St. Joseph Girl's High School in Gunadala of Vijayawada.

Opposition Leader and YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) Chief Jagan Mohan Reddy cast his vote in Kadapa and said, "I'm very confident, people are looking for a change, vote without fear."

Jana Sena candidate arrested for damaging EVM

Madhusudan Gupta, a Jana Sena Party (JSP) candidate from Anantapur, was arrested after he had reportedly damaged an Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) at a polling station in Gooty. He alleged that names of the assembly and parliamentary constituencies were not being displayed properly.

Meanwhile, Former Union Minister and TDP's Lok Sabha candidate from Vizianagaram Ashok Gajapathi Raju, along with his daughter and TDP assembly constituency candidate Aditi, cast their votes. HRD Minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao, accompanied by his family members, cast his vote at Visakhapatnam.