Polling begins for Atmakur by-election

Atmakur, June 23: Polling for the by-election to Atmakur Assembly seat began at 7 am on Thursday. Polling will continue till 6 pm.
 
The by-election for Atmakur seat was held in the wake of the death of sitting MLA Mekapati Goutham Reddy, who died of cardiac arrest on February this year.
 
YSRCP candidate Mekapati Vikram Reddy, BJP candidate G Bharat Kumar Yadav and another 12 candidates are in the fray. 
 
279 polling stations have been set up for the 2,13,400 voters in the constituency. The officials are video recording the entire polling process and live webcasting has been taken up in 78 polling centres.  
 
The officials have identified 131 vulnerable polling centres and made security arrangements to avoid any untoward incidents. Covid-19 protocol is being followed and special queue lines were formed for women. 1,409 polling staff and 1,100 police personnel were participating in by-election duty. The counting of votes will be held on June 26.