Hyderabad, March 13: All the arrangements have been made for elections to the Legislative Council for three seats each from graduates and teachers constituencies spread across 12 districts on Sunday.
A total of 1,683 polling stations have been set up in the above districts — 1,093 for graduates and 590 for teacher constituencies. Polling will be held from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. A micro-observer from Central government organisations and a videographer would be present in every polling booth to record the polling activity completely, Mr. Bhanwarlal, Chief Electoral Officer, told the media on Saturday.
A total of 44 candidates are in the fray for three graduate constituencies – 19 from Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam; 11 from Kadapa, Anantapur and Kurnool and 14 from Prakasam, Nellore and Chittoor with a total voter strength of 5,44,255.
For the three teacher MLC seats, 27 candidates are in the race — nine in Kadapa, Anantapur and Kurnool (13,270 votes), seven from Prakasam, Nellore and Chittoor (14,273 votes) and 11 from Mahabubnagar, Ranga Reddy and Hyderabad (14,973 votes)
Counting would be taken up in six places in each constituency headquarters on March 15 and the results should be out by that night.
Mr. Bhanwarlal said it was important for the voter to denote his/her preference in numerals with a violet colour sketch pen provided at the polling centre. If any voter did not indicate the first preference, the vote would be declared invalid. The election of MLCs by the MLAs would be held on March 17 and those to be elected by the local authorities, on March 21. The process of elections to the Legislative Council will be completed by March 24.
Meanwhile, the CEO said no notice was issued to former Kadapa MP Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy against unveiling of his new party flag.
-Agencies