The polling at the 12 Urban Local Bodies (ULB) in the district was smooth, barring a few minor incidents. A moderate to brisk polling was recorded at most of the ULBs on Sunday. Regional Director of Municipal Administration G. Srinivasa Rao said that the average polling percentage recorded at 1 p.m. was 57.23 per cent. Piduguralla municipality recorded the highest polling percentage of 65.54 , while Tenali registered 51.21 polling percentage, the lowest in the district. Women turned up in large numbers to vote at the polling booths.
Polling which was sluggish at the beginning slowly picked up towards the afternoon. At a few places, polling was delayed by a few minutes due to technical snags in the Electronic Voting Machines (EVM).
Guntur Range Inspector General of Police P.V. Sunil Kumar inspected the polling stations in Macherla sub-division, while SP J. Satyanarayana took the stock of the situation at Ponnur.
The Police used a mild force to disperse rival supporters of the Congress and the YSR Congress at 29th ward in Narsaraopet. Police also acted swiftly to quell trouble at the 16th ward after TDP supporters alleged that the YSRC candidates had been luring voters with television sets. Reports from Tenali suggested that police took a candidate into preventive custody after the latter was found distributing money.
In Bapatla, a minor altercation marred the polling in the 20th ward after TDP candidate Rambabu entered into a heated argument with the police after he was denied entry into the polling booth. An independent candidate, Santhalakshmi, also created a ruckus for the same reason.
In Vinukonda, TDP supporters demanded that the presiding officer be relieved from poll duties, alleging that the PO was acting in a partisan manner.
