The Hindu : Front Page : 65 p.c. polling in Andhra Pradesh

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Friday, Apr 17, 2009
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65 p.c. polling in Andhra Pradesh

Special Correspondent

First phase devoid of any major trouble

- Photo:Mohd. Yousuf

CRUCIAL TEST: Telugu Desam president N. Chandrababu Naidu, along with wife and son, walks into a polling station to cast vote in Hyderabad on Thursday.

HYDERABAD: Political parties, election officials and the security forces heaved a sigh of relief as the first phase of the elections in Andhra Pradesh, considered crucial in deciding the fortunes of the major political players, passed without any major trouble on Thursday.

Around 65 per cent of the 3.12 crore voters cast their vote in 154 Assembly and 22 Lok Sabha constituencies that constitute more than half the seats. Polling was so brisk from 7 a.m. that a record turnout was expected but, at the end of the day, the polling percentage was less than that of the first phase of the elections in 2004.

This election was exceptional as there was no naxalite-related violence even though some districts in Telangana and North Coastal Andhra were feared to be vulnerable to extremist attacks as they share borders with Chhattisgarh, Maharashta and Orissa where there were several attacks by Maoists on polling day.

In the absence of fear, tribals in agency areas of Visakhapatnam district ignored the poll boycott call given by Maoists in 11 mandals. Many of them trekked tens of kilometeres from inaccessible areas to cast vote. Two helicopters kept on standby in Visakhapatnam and Kothagudem for emergencies were not pressed into service. The only notable incident of violence occurred in Ieeja village of Gadwal Mandal in Mahabubnagar district where voters vent their ire on a police station as their booths were included in Alampur (SC) Assembly constituency instead of Gadwal which is close by.

The Election Commission is likely to order re-polling in at least 19 polling booths, 14 of them in Ieeja village where voters damaged several electronic voting machines. The remaining five booths are in Hyderabad (2), Karimnagar, Khammam, Hyderabad and Srikakulam. The EC’s advice was sought on ordering re-poll at a booth in Palasa where 97 per cent of votes were cast by 10.30 a.m., but the presiding officer failed to enter the names of the voters in a register.

The election authorities blotted their copybook as people in several places expressed ire on not finding their names in the voters’ lists although they were issued electronic photo identity cards (EPIC). Chief Electoral Officer I. V. Subba Rao said nothing could be done at the last minute and that the voters should have checked the draft electoral rolls to verify whether their names were there.

Celebrations

At the end of the day, political parties vied with each other in claiming that they had bagged a majority of the Assembly seats. Claiming that there was a positive vote for the government, Congress leaders said the party would cross the 100-mark, while the TDP leaders were confident of bagging 120 seats because of anti-incumbency and their cash transfer scheme. The Praja Rajyam claimed a tally of 70 seats. The Congress and TDP even organised celebrations outside their headquarters in Hyderabad to mark their anticipated victory.

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