Polling held peacefully in 44 LWE-affected areas along tri-state borders
Voters in Polavaram, West Godavari and East Godavari districts participated in local body elections despite rainfall and submerged polling stations.
Polling was conducted smoothly without major incidents in 44 stations located in Left-Wing Extremist (LWE) areas across the Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Telangana tri-state borders, according to The Hindu.
In Polavaram district, nearly 1.40 lakh voters, representing 63 per cent of the electorate, cast their votes for the Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituency (MPTC) and Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituency (ZPTC) elections.
Polavaram District Collector K. Dinesh Kumar said no untoward incident occurred in the district, including the 44 LWE-affected stations, where polling ended by 3 p.m. He added that additional transport arrangements helped manage the rains and voter turnout.
In West Godavari district, polling for 20 ZPTCs and 340 MPTCs saw an overall turnout of 67.36 per cent. District Collector Chadalavada Nagarani said 43 polling stations were shifted to alternative government buildings in five mandals after continuous rainfall submerged the original sites.
In East Godavari district, District Collector Ch. Kirthi said elections for one ZPTC and 18 MPTC seats have been postponed to November 6. This follows flash floods in Gopalapuram mandal that left polling personnel stranded at an Agriculture Market Centre.
Counting for eight mandals in Polavaram district will take place in Rampachodavaram on November 7, while counting for the four mandals submerged by the Polavaram project will be held in Chintoor.