9.05 pc turnout in Andhra Pradesh in first two hours

Amaravati, May 13: A little over nine per cent of votes were cast in Andhra Pradesh in the first two hours of polling on Monday for simultaneous elections to the 175-member state Assembly and 25 Lok Sabha seats.

According to the Election Commission, 9.05 per cent polling was recorded in the Lok Sabha constituencies till 9 a.m. For Assembly polls, the turnout was 9.21 per cent.

More than 4.14 crore voters are eligible to cast their votes at 46,389 centres. They will decide the political fortunes of 2,841 candidates.

Polling in 169 Assembly segments will be held till 6 p.m. In the Left-Wing Extremist (LWE) affected segments of Araku, Paderu and Rampachodavaram, the polling will conclude at 4 p.m. while in three other LWE-affected segments of Palakonda, Kurupam and Salur it will conclude at 5 p.m.

In the 2019 elections, the state had recorded 79.84 per cent polling. Chief Minister and YSR Congress Party president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, former chief minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N. Chandrababu Naidu, Jana Sena leader and actor Pawan Kalyan are among 2,387 candidates for 175 Assembly seats.

For 25 Lok Sabha, 454 contestants are in the fray. The prominent among them are former Union Minister and state BJP chief D. Purandeswari, state Congress president Y.S. Sharmila Reddy and former Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy.