Civic polls see 63% turnout

The elections for the 96 municipalities and 11 municipal corporations in Andhra Pradesh went off without any large-scale violence yesterday. And it's likely that the ruling Congress party will emerge as the single biggest gainer.

Over 62.5 per cent polling was registered on an average with higher turnout of 69 per cent witnessed in municipalities.

Pre-poll and exit poll surveys conducted by local electronic and print media have predicted a huge victory for the Congress party. These surveys predicted majorities for the Congress and its Left allies in more than 70 municipalities, which means the ruling party will claim stake for chairman and mayor posts in all those urban bodies.

In stark contrast, the surveys gave majorities in just around 20 municipalities to the Telugu Desam Party. TRS, which fought alone, is also expected to show a poor performance.

Counting of votes in all the municipalities and municipal corporations, except in Vijayawada where elections for 14 divisions were postponed on account of recent floods, is slated to be held tomorrow.