Voters posing for a picture after exercising their franchise at a polling station in Visakhapatnam on Thursday.
| Photo Credit: V. RAJU
Visakhapatnam district recorded 87.30% voting on Thursday (February 27, 2025) for the MLC seat (Teacher constituency) in North Coastal Andhra Pradesh, an official communication from the office of the Returning Officer at Visakhapatnam Collectorate said.
In Anakapalli district, 96% of voting was recorded while 88% in ASR district.
Total polling rate in the north-coastal region of six districts including Visakhapatnam was 92% of total of 22,493 votes, across total 123 polling stations. Out of these, 13 were in Visakhapatnam district, 24 in Anakapalli, 11 in ASR district, 29 in Vizianagaram, 15 in Parvatipuram-Manyam and 31 in Srikakulam district.
Returning Officer M.N. Harendhira Prasad (Visakhapatnam Collector) and Visakhapatnam Police Commissioner Shankhabrata Bagchi visited a number of polling stations and inspected the conduct of polling. They interacted with the polling staff and voters to take a ground-level report on the arrangements and facilities, including security aspects.
Mr. Harendhira Prasad along with election observer MM Nayak visited the poling station at AU primary school. They expressed satisfaction over the conduct of the election.
“A total of 10 candidates have been in the fray for the MLC seat. The counting will be held at AU Engineering College grounds, here on March 3, and the entire election process will be completed by March 8, ” Returning Officer Harendhira Prasad said.
“The polling was peaceful,” said Mr. Brata, while talking to media persons at the government high school at Chandrampalem in Madhurawada in the city.
Election observer M.M. Nayak supervised the conduct of the election across the region from the Command Control Room at Visakhapatnam Collectorate.
This correspondent visited a few number of polling stations including one at the Government High School at Chandrampalem, Madhurawada, under the Bhimili Assembly segment of the city. Many voters (teachers) visited polling stations in the early hours to escape from the heat as the temperatures have been rising for the past few days. A maximum of 34 degrees Celsius of maximum temperature was recorded near Bhimili on Thursday noon.
Some voters said they felt the morning was the right time to go to the polling station to complete their task of exercising their vote, as they had to take a nap in the afternoon due to being awake all night last night (Wednesday) on the occasion of Maha Shivaratri.
It may be mentioned that the sitting MLC Pakalapati Raghu Varma, officially supported by the ruling TDP, former two-time MLC G. Srinivasulu Naidu, and PDF candidate Koredla Vijaya Gowri were mainly locked in the contest.
“A tough fight has been anticipated between Mr. Varma and Ms. Gowri this time. Let us wait for March 3,” said a polling observer.
Published – February 28, 2025 09:16 am IST
