Polling begins in Seemandhra

Polling for 25 Lok Sabha constituencies and 175 Legislative Assembly seats in Seemandhra began this morning.

As many as 3.68 crore voters are eligible to exercise their franchise at 40,709 polling stations spread across the 13 districts of Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema (together known as Seemandhra), according to state Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Bhanwar Lal.

YSRCP president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, TDP Chief N Chandrababu Naidu,  Union Ministers V Kishore Chandra Deo, M M Pallam Raju, Panabaka Lakshmi and former minister D Purandeswari are some of the prominent candidates in the fray.

There are 333 contesting candidates for parliamentary constituencies and 2,241 nominees for assembly segments. Among the 175 assembly constituencies, polling would take place from 7 AM to 6 PM in 165 seats. But in eight Naxal-hit segments, polling would be held from 7 AM to 5 PM and in two others from 7 AM to 4 PM. Noting that elaborate security arrangements have been made for polling, the CEO has said 272.1 companies of Central Police Force have been deployed.

This is in addition to the 95,158 state police force. Over Rs 137 crore unaccounted cash has been seized so far in undivided AP during enforcement of poll code. Polling concluded in Telangana region on April 30.