Mukesh Kumar Meena, theAndhra Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) on Sunday said that 1.6 lakh new Electronic Voting Machines at 46,389 polling stations for the simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in the state.
In a release issued by him, Meena said, “Initially, it was estimated that 1.45 lakh EVMs would be sufficient for 46,165 polling stations. However, the addition of 224 auxiliary polling stations necessitated the procurement of another 15,000 EVMs.” Additionally, another 20 per cent more EVMs have been kept ready, he said.
Emphasising its effort to boost polling percentage, Meena stated that the Election Commission is striving to increase the polling percentage in the southern state to 83 per cent, compared to the 79.83 per cent registered during the 2019 polls. He further requested the voters of Andhra Pradesh to come forward and exercise their franchise, a right that is enshrined in the Indian Constitution.
The total number of eligible voters in Andhra Pradesh with a balanced gender-wise participation. While there are 2.02 crore male voters, the count of female voters is 2.1 crore. The state also has a registered third gender voter count of 3,421. There are 68,185 service electors in the state.
Notably Andhra pradesh has 25 Lok Sabha seats and 175 Assembly seats. The polling in Andhra Pradesh is slated for the fourth phase on May 13.
Results of 2019 elections
There is a triangular fight in the state between the Congress, YSRCP and NDA, which includes BJP, TDP and Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena Party. In 2019, YSRCP sweeped 22 out of 25 Lok Sabha seats while the TDP managed to win only 3, leaving Congress and BJP’s total at zero.
Similarly, YSRCP also sweeped the state assembly elections winning 151 seats out of 175 defeating the TDP, which formed the government in earlier 2014 assembly elections. TDP’s seat count was reduced by 79 and reached 23. Jana Sena Party managed to win only one seat.
(WIth PTI Inputs)
ALSO READ | Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Campaigning for fourth phase ends, 96 constituencies to go to polls