Amaravati, Oct 19 Andhra Pradesh State Election Commission on Monday issued a notification for elections to 659 Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituency (ZPTC) and 9,829 Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituency(MPTC) seats across the state.
State Election Commissioner Anil Chandra Punetha, in a press release, said the notification was issued in accordance with the election schedule announced on October 14. Polls will not be held for four of the 663 ZPTC seats and 29 of the 9,858 MPTC seats.
Around 2.8 crore voters are eligible to exercise their franchise, including 1.3 crore men and 1.4 crore women, he said. A total of 35,333 polling stations have been established for the elections.
Of these, 9,966 have been classified as sensitive, 9,186 as highly sensitive and 16,181 as normal polling stations.
Meanwhile, Panchayat Raj and Rural Development Commissioner Mylavarapu Venkata Ramakrishna Teja said that the election process will involve 35,333 Presiding Officers and 1.4 lakh other polling personnel. Webcasting arrangements have been made at all 659 mandal headquarters and 28 district headquarters to monitor the process, he said.
The security deposit for MPTC candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes has been fixed at Rs 1,500, while candidates from other categories will have to pay Rs 3,000. For ZPTC candidates, the deposits are Rs 3,000 and Rs 6,000, respectively.
The expenditure limit has been fixed at Rs 4 lakh for MPTC candidates and Rs 8 lakh for ZPTC candidates. Officials concerned will announce details of reservations and other election-related matters, said Punetha.
Referring to incidents at nomination centres, Punetha said reports had been sought from district collectors regarding developments in Kadapa and other districts. In Kadapa, clashes and violence at some centres resulted in nomination papers being torn in certain wards of Mydukur Municipality.
Taking the incidents seriously, the State Election Commission suspended the Mydukur municipal elections, he said.
Teja said preliminary procedures, including publication of electoral rolls, identification of polling stations, finalisation of reservations and publication of the gazette notification, had been completed.
He said elections will be held under 28 Zilla Parishads, compared with 13 before district reorganisation. The state has 663 revenue mandals, each considered a ZPTC constituency. The division of Machilipatnam and Adoni mandals, along with the resolution of pending court cases, had paved the way for the polls.
Elections are being conducted in 659 mandals, excluding four in the Amaravati region. Formation of local bodies in those mandals will be taken up later, depending on the state government’s decision, Teja added.
(PTI News)
