Barring stray incidents, ZPTC and MPTC Phase-I elections for Machilipatnam and Vijayawada divisions passed off peacefully in Krishna district on Sunday. The authorities said 82 per cent poll was recorded at 1,637 stations in both divisions.
Voters, especially women, turned up in large numbers to vote, and few physically challenged persons were assisted by their family members to cast votes. Voters stood in serpentine queues at several polling stations in Kanchikacherla, Nandigama and Jaggaiahpeta.
Mild tensionTension prevailed for a while at a polling station in Moguluru village of Kanchikacherla mandal around 12 noon, when Telugu Desam and YSRC activists clashed. Two persons, including YSRC Kanchikacherla mandal convenor Bandi Janakirama Rao suffered minor injuries in the incident. In another incident at Tallapalem in Machilipatnam, villagers entered into an argument with police personnel at a polling station and protested the high-handed behaviour of a police officer against an elderly person. In all, 48 candidates are in fray for the 14 ZPTC posts and 774 for the 293 MPTC posts in Vijayawada division. Of the 303 MPTC posts, 10 were elected unanimously. In the Machilipatnam division, 51 candidates are contesting for the 12 ZPTC posts, and 413 candidates are in fray for the 157 MPTC posts, of which four have been unanimously elected.
