Kuppam Municipal elections see 71.9 per cent voter turnout

TIRUPATI: After a high-decibel campaign, the Kuppam Municipal elections saw a huge voter turnout of 76.49 per cent. The maiden election for the two-year-old civic body was held on Monday with voters standing in serpentine queues to cast their vote since 7am.

Earlier, out of the 25 wards, only the 14th ward had gone into the ruling YSR Congress party’s kitty amid the objections from the opposition Telugu Desam; and the TD went to court. The remaining 24 wards had polling on Monday.

EC said that out of the total 39,259 voters, 28,808 exercised their franchise, registering a turnout of 76.49 per cent. Among the 24 wards, the 4th and 8th wards registered the highest polling percentage of 93.41 and 91.51 respectively.

The 16th ward from where the YSRC chairman candidate Dr. D Sudheer contested, the polling percentage was 57.68. The 24th ward from where the TDP chairman nominee Trilok Naidu contested has recorded 72.43 per cent voter turnout.

Kuppam municipal commissioner and election officer VS Chitti Babu said all the ballot boxes were shifted to MCJ Degree College. The strong room was sealed in the presence of poll officials. The ballot boxes will be kept there till the counting from 8am on November 17.

As per the SEC notification, the election for the municipal chairman and deputy chairman will be held on November 22.

Meanwhile, tension was palpable at various polling stations throughout the day, with both YSRC and TDP trading charges of bringing in bogus voters. The police prevented clashes.