Poor start to polling in ASR district; Paderu and Araku record only 5%, 7 % polling respectively in first two hours

Tribal areas in ASR district record low voter turnout, with only 7% voting in Araku Assembly Constituency.

Tribal areas in Alluri Sitharama Raju (ASR) district recorded a poor start to the polling, in Paderu, to its 175-member Assembly, on May 13.

In the first two hours (7 a.m. to 9 a.m.) of polling, Araku Assembly Constituency saw only 7 % voting, while Paderu Assembly Constituency saw 5.6% voting. Similarly, Rampachodavaram Assembly Constituency saw 7.6 % voting in the first two hours. It may be noted that being a Maoist affected region, the polling timings are limited to 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. in ASR district.

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In plain areas of Araku mandal, Hukumpeta, Dumbriguda, Chinthapalli, since morning a good number of tribals have thronged the polling booths to cast their votes. As per the officials, it is yet to be picked up in the interior areas.

District Collector M. Vijaya Sunitha cast her vote in polling booth No. 284 at Sri Krishnapuram Girls Tribal Welfare School at Paderu.

There are more than 7.61 lakh voters in ASR district. The officials have arranged as many as 1,021 polling stations. Being a Maoist affected area, more than 5,400 police force was deployed as part of bandobast to ensure peaceful polling in the district and it is being led by Superintendent of Police, Tuhin Sinha. Of the 1,021 polling stations, as many as 286 polling station do not network connectivity.

District Collector Vijaya Sunitha is monitoring the webcasting, which is being done at 695 critical polling centres.