After the last day for withdrawal of nominations on Wednesday, 333 candidates were left in the fray for 25 Lok Sabha constituencies in Seemandhra region which will go to polls on May 7.
Disclosing the details, Chief Electoral Officer Bhanwar Lal told the media persons here that out of 446 nominations filed, 60 were rejected and 53 candidates withdrew their nominations.
A total number of 2,243 candidates will be contesting in 175 assembly constituencies after withdrawal of nominations.
On the whole, 600 candidates are contesting in both Telangana and Seemandhra regions for 42 parliamentary constituencies and 3,912 candidates for 294 Assembly constituencies.
He said in the first phase of elections on April 30, polling would take place from 7 a.m.to 4 p.m. in 11 left wing extremism (LWE) affected Assembly constituencies and in the remaining 108 constituencies, it will be from 7 a.m.to 6 p.m.
In second phase, polling will take place from 7 a.m.to 4 p.m in 10 LWE affected assembly constituencies and in the remaining 165 constituencies, it will be from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. In some areas, Collectors said the timing should be extended beyond 4 p.m. even in LWE affected areas as they were confident of ensuring polling without any fear or favour. Their request has been forwarded to the Election Commission, he said.
He said under the violation of model code, the flying squads and police officials seized Rs.111 crore cash from all districts so far and this amounted to 50 per cent of total cash seized in the entire country.
Of 71,222 polling stations, 40,000 polling stations would be covered under live webcast and remaining polling stations will be covered with videography, micro observers. The distribution of photo voter slips to the electors by booth-level officers commenced and it would be completed by April 26 in Telangana and by April 30 in Seemandhra.
Mr. Bhanwar Lal who released a song on voters’ awareness said that the Election Commission set a target for Andhra Pradesh to surpass 90 per cent voter turnout and he urged voters to exercise their franchise and create a national record. Some Collectors announced incentives for the constituencies with the highest voting percentage.
