KHAMMAM: The election was by and large peaceful in Khammam. Four municipalities - Khammam, Kothagudem, Yellandu and Sathupalli, went to polls in the district on Saturday.

The turnout was 80 per cent in Sathupalli, 74 per cent in Khammam, 70 per cent in Kothagudem and Yellandu respectively. Many voters could not exercise their franchise as their names were missing from the voter list in different wards.

Heavy downpour kept voters indoors in the first two hours of the day. The polling was hardly five per cent from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. in Kothagudem as against 20 per cent in certain booths in Sathupalli and Khammam. Many voters queued up with umbrellas before poling stations.

Empty booths

In Yellandu town, the polling booths looked empty in the morning. There was some let up in the situation around 10 a.m. and the crowds began to swell. Kothagudem and Yellandu municipalities witnessed brisk polling after 3 p.m. as the coal workers joined the queues in large numbers after coming back from the first shift. The voters from seven wards of Yellandu town, who threatened to boycott the polling, opposing the expansion of the opencast coal project, relented after the intervention of local authorities.

They took part in voting from 11 a.m. The police intensified patrolling and checked vehicles in the municipality in view of the threats held out by the Maoists.

Voting by impostors

Voting by impostors paved the way for protests in Ward No. 24 and 18 of Yellandu and Ward No. 11 of Khammam. The Congress and TDP workers staged protests jointly in certain wards.

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