Repolling at five Andhra booths peaceful

Amaravati, May 6 (IANS) Re-polling was peaceful in five polling stations in Andhra Pradesh on Monday, officials said.

Despite severe heat wave conditions, voters turned out in large numbers to cast their votes in the five polling centres in Guntur, Prakasam and Nellore districts.

More than 75 per cent of 5,064 voters exercised their franchise between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m.

Chief Electoral Officer Gopal Krishna Dwivedi said no untoward incident was reported from any of the places where repolling was held.

In one of the booths in Guntur district, 89.23 per cent polling was recorded.

While polling for both Lok Sabha and Assembly elections was being held in three booths in Guntur and Prakasam districts, balloting was held only for Lok Sabha elections in two booths in Nellore district.

Elections to the state's 175-member Assembly and 25 Lok Sabha constituencies were held on April 11, in the first of the seven-phase general elections.

Following complaints of violence, malfunctioning of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) or other circumstances that prevented voters from exercising their franchise freely, the Election Commission decided to hold re-polls in five booths.

The election authorities had made adequate security arrangements at all five booths to prevent any violence. They had also taken extra precautions to ensure that there were no technical glitches in the EVMs.

According to Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Ravi Shankar Ayyanar, 1,200 police personnel were deployed to ensure smooth and peaceful re-polling.