Amaravati, Nov 1 (IANS) Polling was underway for elections to 92 urban local bodies (ULBs) in Andhra Pradesh amid tight security. The State Election Commission (SEC) officials said polling began at 7 a.m. at 11,378 polling centres in 13 Municipal Corporations and 79 of the 87 Municipalities and Nagar Panchayats.
The polling process will continue till 5 p.m.
As many as 99.35 lakh voters will decide the fate of 10,262 candidates contesting mayoral, chairperson and ward-level posts.
Elections for the posts of chairpersons of 17 Municipalities and Nagar Panchayats were unanimous. Both chairpersons and ward members were elected unopposed in eight Municipalities and Nagar Panchayats — Allagadda, Dachepalli, Darsi, Gurajala, Kamalapuram, Piduguralla, Proddatur and Rayachoti. The ruling coalition, NDA, bagged these posts of chairpersons and ward members.
A total of 153 candidates are contesting for mayor posts in 13 municipal corporations, while 367 candidates are contesting for the posts of chairpersons in 70 Municipalities.
Of the 922 corporator wards, polling is being held in 804, as the election was unanimous in the remaining 118 wards. According to the SEC, a total of 3,077 candidates are contesting for 804 municipal wards. Even in wards where corporators have been elected unanimously, polling is taking place for the posts of mayors.
A total of 6,669 candidates are in fray for 2,382 wards in Municipalities and Nagar Panchayats.
The total number of voters in Municipal Corporations is 59,97,918, and in Municipalities and Nagar panchayats 39,38,096.
The SEC has deployed 84,815 presiding officers and other staff for polling. It also deployed 3,720 micro observers.
Election authorities have made arrangements for web casting from 1,835 polling centres. A web-casting expert has been deployed at each of these polling booths.
As part of the elaborate arrangements to ensure peaceful, free and fair polling, the SEC has installed 12,666 CCTV cameras.
The municipal elections are witnessing a direct fight between the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), comprising the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Jana Sena Party (JSP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and the opposition YSR Congress Party (YSRCP).
While the coalition sought a public mandate to continue development and welfare schemes implemented during the last two-and-a-half years, YSRCP highlighted the coalition’s failures.
The NDA is looking to repeat its performance in the 2024 general elections, while YSRCP is trying to bounce back after the humiliating defeat in the Assembly polls.
As part of seat adjustments among NDA partners, the Mayoral posts of the Greater Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada Municipal Corporations were allotted to the TDP and Jana Sena Party, respectively.
Polling for ULBs was originally scheduled for October 28, but was deferred following directions from the Supreme Court after violent incidents prevented several candidates from filing their nominations. Counting of votes will be on November 3.
–IANS
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