Heavy Turnout for Rayalaseema Elections

 Anantapur: A heavy turnout was reported even from the urban areas of Rayalaseema region for the general elections on Monday.

Unlike the poll violence that blended with faction politics in previous polls, the polling was peaceful in most parts of Rayalaseema region, but for the few incidents of violence this time.

Long queues were witnessed from the first hour of polling and this continued till 6pm in tens of hundreds of polling stations. For instance, the long queue continued from 7am to 6pm at a polling station in Vijayanagar Law College. It was complained that a congested room was allotted for both women and men voters.

Further, the voters, after casting their votes, had to exit from the same way, which led to delay in the polling process.

Software engineer R Reddy from Mumbai came to cast his vote in the queue line and observed that it took more than one and a half hour for him to cast his votes.

Kadapa district witnessed a huge turnout. The Jammalamadugu assembly segment recorded 78.55 per cent polling by 5pm while it was 78.19 per cent in Mydukur assembly segment, 75.8 per cent in Pulivendula, 75.16 per cent in Kamalapuram and 73.25 per cent in Badvel assembly segment.

The queue lines continued till 6pm. Huge crowds, mostly women, waited in the long queues to cast their votes.

In Hindupur Lok Sabha constituency, an average of 74.70 per cent polling was recorded at 6pm whereas the Penukonda Assembly segment recorded a 78.77 per cent polling, followed by Dharmvaram with 76.10 per cent, Puttaparthi with 75.23, Hindupur with 73.32 and Madakasira with 74.25 per cent polling.

Uravakonda assembly segment recorded a maximum polling of 75 per cent by 6pm. Long queues were observed at many village polling booths and officials permitted people in queues to cast their votes even after 6pm.

The Anantapur urban segment witnessed a larger turnout of voters compared to the previous elections.

Interestingly, in Kalyandurg assembly segment, only 55.04 polling was recorded by 4pm but it improved to 67.05 per cent by evening. Sources said the polling per cent was very poor since the morning. At Jammanipalle polling station in Madakasira mandal, 94 per cent of women (460 voters) cast their votes.