Counting underway in by-elections to two ZPTC seats in Kadapa

Amaravati, Aug 14 (IANS) Counting of votes polled in the by-elections to Pulivendula and Ontimitta ZPTC seats was underway amid tight security and boycott by the YSRCP in Kadapa on Thursday.

The counting of votes began at 8 a.m. at Maulana Azad National Urdu University polytechnic.

Ten tables were arranged for counting of ballot papers for each Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituency (ZPTC). The process is likely to be completed in just one round for Pulivendula and three rounds in Ontimitta.

As many as 100 officials, including 30 supervisors, 60 counting assistants and three assistant statistical officers, have been deployed for counting.

Alleging large-scale irregularities in the polling, the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) was boycotting the counting.

The polling for two ZPTC seats was held on Tuesday. While Pulivendula witnessed 74 per cent polling, Ontimitta recorded 86 per cent voter turnout.

Re-polling at two polling stations in Pulivendula was conducted on Wednesday due to the violent incidents witnessed on Tuesday.

The by-elections saw a fierce contest between the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the opposition YSRCP.

Polling for the ZPTC seat in Pulivendula, considered the bastion of the YSR family, was conducted for the first time in 30 years. The TDP-led NDA dispensation described this as “restoration of democracy.”

Pulivendula Assembly constituency is represented by former Chief Minister and YSRCP president Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy. His family has been holding the seat for nearly five decades.

The YSRCP accused TDP of booth capturing, rigging and other electoral malpractices. It demanded the cancellation of the polling and the conduct of a re-poll.

Jagan Mohan Reddy on Wednesday demanded fresh polling for the by-election to Pulivendula and Ontimitta ZPTCs under the supervision of Central forces and in a fair manner. He termed the polling held on August 12 a "mockery of democracy".

He alleged that all polling agents of YSRCP were driven away along with the party sympathisers whose forms and slips were snatched and torn away.

Jagan also announced that YSRCP candidates will move the court seeking to cancel the elections.

The YSRCP chief described the election as the most "atrocious and undemocratic".

--IANS

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