Polling for nine AP Council seats held

The Nellore LAC recorded 100 per cent polling, over 99 per cent balloting was reported from Kadapa, West Godavari, East Godavari, Chittoor and Kurnool LACs, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO)'s office said in a release.

Of the nine seats, the lowest voting, 75.10 per cent, was recorded in Srikakulam district. No major untoward incident was reported from anywhere in the eight districts during the polling, officials said.

The main contest is among the candidates of ruling Congress, main Opposition Telugu Desam and the supporters of former MP Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy. In Kadapa, the native district of Jagan, Congress candidate N Varadarajula Reddy is pitted against Narayana Reddy, who is reportedly backed by the Jagan group.

There have been reports of all the major candidates organising "camps" with the electors, who are representatives of local bodies, to ensure votes are cast in their favour. The total number of voters was 6,785 and the counting will be taken up on March 23. Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) candidate Syed Aminul Jafri was elected unopposed from the Hyderabad LAC.

The elections to the 10 seats of the Upper House were necessitated due to expiry of the term of the sitting MLCs. Quoting police, a report from Kadapa said five persons were found in possession of some pink colour papers which looked like ballot papers. Three police cases have been registered by police in connection with the incident.