Barring sporadic incidents of violence in Eluru town, the polling in West Godavari district on Thursday was by and large peaceful. The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the YSRCP workers clashed at a few places such as Sanivarapeta in the town.
Sitting TDP MLA Badeti Bujji lodged a complaint with the police that the YSRCP workers attacked him as he tried to prevent them from distributing money to voters. On the other hand, the YSRCP leaders Mutta Raju, former deputy Mayor and corporator G. Ravindra Krishna, ex-corporator Appisetti Chandu and others alleged that Mr. Bujji attacked them.
This apart, the polling was also marred by complaints of malfunctioning of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). At several places in the district, particularly in Eluru Lok Sabha constituency, which is spread over West Godavari and Krishna districts, there were reports of faulty EVMs, which irked several people.
A voter, Vijaya, who came before 7 a.m. to the polling station in Eluru to cast her vote, had to wait till 11 a.m. due to technical glitches in the EVM machine. At polling station 97 at R&B office, the voters fret and fumed over malfunction of the EVMs. The polling staff said: “The voters are upset and angry because the machines stopped working. The EVMs were changed three times but in vain. The problem was informed to higher-ups.”
Youth turnout
Youth turned up in good numbers in Bhimavaram Assembly constituency from where Jana Sena Party (JSP) chief Pawan Kalyan is contesting. There seems to be a tide in favour of the Jana Sena if the mood of the youth was any indication. It is, however, not clear on the swing of Kapu votes as both YSRCP and the Jana Sena candidates belonged to the Kapu caste. The voting was delayed at Municipal School at Nehru Nagar and Moulana Abdul Kalam Municipal School and other places in Bhimavaram.
