Vishakapatnam: Names of several prominent individuals like assembly deputy speaker Kolagatla Veerabhdra Swamy, former central minister Ashok Gajapati Raju of TD and Chodavaram MLA Karanam Dharmasri were found missing from the voters’ list during the MLC polls on Monday. They could not cast their votes for the north Andhra graduates constituency.
“The names of 13 members of my family were missing when we went to cast our votes in the UP High School polling centre at Chodavaram,’’ Dharmasri told Deccan Chronicle.
He said the names were listed in Ambheripuram village, their family base for many years. The local tahsildar had been reminded to check the names and a fresh application for enrollment was given to him. A complaint was given to the election officer, the assembly whip said.
At Vizianagaram, teachers were agitated when the names of the district president of UTF J Ramesh Chandra Patnaik and some other teachers were found missing from the list. Patnaik went to the Kaspa High School for the voting. He protested when he found his name was missing.
After complaining to the district election officer, the UTF leader sat down in protest at the polling booth. Other UTF leaders urged the zonal election officer to issue a challenge vote but the plea was rejected. The name of the Kaspa High School’s retired principal was also missing.
Opposition leader Chandrababu Naidu wrote a letter to the state election commissioner on the irregularities in the MLC elections. Naidu also mentioned about minister Ushasri Charan speaking about money distribution and MP Mithun Reddy taking out a rally from Kadapa to Thamballapalle. Naidu also alleged that YSRC leaders distributed money in Visakhapatnam, Tirupati and Proddatur to win votes for the party’s MLC candidates.
Barring minor incidents, the polling for north Andhra graduates constituency went off peacefully. Among the districts, Vizianagaram recorded the highest poll percentage at 75 and Visakhapatnam the lowest at 53.62.
The ruling YSRC-backed Seethamraju Sudhakar, BJP’s PVN Madhav, TD’s Vepada Chiranjeevi Rao and Left’s PDF candidate K Rama Prabha were the leading candidates among the 37 who fought this election.
The polling during the first two hours was slow due to the hot weather conditions but the momentum picked up in the afternoon. Senior citizens, challenged persons and women took part in the poll process even in rural areas. Visakhapatnam mayor Harikumari, MPs, MLAs and other local leaders cast their vote before noon.
