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AP Records Highest Polling Percentage at 81.86


Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh registered the nation’s highest polling percentage of 81.86, compared with the polling in other states in the four phases of the general elections so far. The state voted for both the Assembly and Parliament on May 13.

West Bengal, where only Parliament polls were held, registered 80.3 per cent polling, coming second in the line.

Chief Electoral Officer Mukesh Kumar Meena briefed the media on Wednesday to explain the post-poll violence in some parts of the state.

He said that out of the total 4,13,33,702 voters in the state, nearly 3.33 crore cast their vote for 25 Lok Sabha and 175 Assembly segments. Some voters did not vote for the Assembly seats even as they participated in the Lok Sabha poll voting.

The total number of votes polled through EVMs formed 80.66 per cent and the percentage with regard to the 4.97 lakh postal ballot votes was 1.2. The total came up to 81.86 per cent.

AP had a poll percentage of 79.77 in 2019 and 78.14 in 2014. This time, the voter enthusiasm was more.

“AP registered nearly 2 per cent higher poll percentage in 2024 compared to 2019. On EVM-polled votes, there were nearly 26 lakh extra votes this time, compared to 2019. Some 3.33 crore votes were polled now, against the 3.07 crore in 2019.

As for the percentage on Lok Sabha segments, Ongole registered the highest at 87.06 while Visakhapatnam the lowest at 71.11. For Assembly segments, Darsi registered the highest at 90.91 while Tirupati the lowest at 63.32. The Visakhapatnam LS improved its poll percentage by 3.8 per cent compared to 67 per cent in 2019 indicating more urban voters turned up to cast their vote this time.

The election authority justified the delay in announcing the polling details, by citing the turnout of a large number voters from abroad and other states to cast their vote. “We were having 5,600 polling stations having more than 1,200 voters. The time for voting was extended beyond the scheduled 6 pm in 3,500 polling stations due to malfunctioning of EVMs, or violence. The polling went on till 2 am on Tuesday in one polling station,” the CEO said.

He said, “The inclement weather conditions in Srikakulam, Konaseema and Udayagiri areas to secure the EVMs in the strongrooms was another reason for the delay in the final calculations. EVMs with polled votes were secured in 350 strongrooms located in 33 places across the state, with a three-tier security cover, and their safety is assured.”

“No repoll was recommended by any observer after a review of the polling with the officials concerned across the Assembly and LS segments,” he said.

Meena said post-poll violence was reported from Tadipatri, Macherla, Chandragiri and Narasaraopet areas. The ECI held talks with DGP Harish Kumar Gupta to curb such violence.

Section 144 CrPC was clamped on the troubled areas. Senior officials with additional troops were dispatched to such areas. The leaders involved in such violence were detained or put under house arrest. Those who resorted to violence were being identified based on the CCTV footage available and cases would to be booked after their arrest. Police pickets were set up at 715 places and “the situation is under control,” Meena said.


( Source : Deccan Chronicle )
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