Andhra Pradesh’s urban local body elections saw a mixed voter response. While some municipalities recorded an impressive turnout, several major cities saw relatively poor participation. By 5 PM on November 1, the state had recorded an overall polling percentage of 60.96%.
Chimmakurthy emerged as the top performer among municipalities and town panchayats with an impressive 84.36% turnout. Machilipatnam led the 13 municipal corporations with 70.83%. At the other end of the spectrum, Tirupati recorded the lowest turnout among corporations at just 46.85%. Adoni reported the lowest turnout among municipalities at 53.60%.
Municipalities Outperform Corporations
Polling was relatively slow during the initial hours. Only 8.39% of voters had exercised their franchise within the first two hours after polling began at 7 AM.
However, voter participation gradually picked up as the day progressed. Municipalities and town panchayats outperformed municipal corporations in voter turnout.
Among the major corporations, Ongole recorded 71.27% polling, followed by Machilipatnam at 70.83% and Kadapa at 69.58%. Visakhapatnam remained at the bottom with 50.02%. Vijayawada recorded 55.35% while Guntur registered 56.15%.
The overall turnout was lower than the 65.08% recorded during the 2021 urban local body elections.
Polling Irregularities Cause Delays
The election process was not entirely smooth. Ballot paper errors created confusion in Vijayawada and Eleswaram.
In Vijayawada’s 55th division, the symbols of YSRCP and Congress candidates were found to have been interchanged. Officials arranged fresh ballot papers and polling resumed after a delay of nearly two hours. Voters were allowed to cast their votes until 7:30 PM.
A similar issue occurred in wards 3 and 7 of Eleswaram. Polling was suspended for around 30 minutes before officials corrected the ballot papers and resumed the process.
Repolling at 13 Polling Stations
The Election Commission has arranged repolling at 13 polling stations across the state on November 2. Voting began at 7 AM in the affected locations.
The repolling covers selected booths in Anantapur, Tirupati and Kadapa municipal corporations. It also includes polling stations in Macherla, Chimmakurthy, Jammalamadugu and Pulivendula municipalities.
Results on November 3
The counting of votes for all 92 urban local bodies is scheduled for November 3. The results will reveal how political parties have performed across the 13 municipal corporations and 79 municipalities and town panchayats.
With repolling underway in selected locations, attention has now shifted to the counting process. The final verdict will offer an important indication of the political mood across Andhra Pradesh‘s urban centres.
