Polling was by and large peaceful in 175 assembly and 25 Lok Sabha constituencies in 13 coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema districts of Andhra Pradesh, in the second phase of polling today, barring incidents of violence between political parties, a top police officer said.
In a Left Wing Extremist incident in Visakhapatnam district, Maoists took away 2 electronic voting machines (EVMs) and set them afire outside the booth in Palakajeedi village of Koyyur mandal and also burnt a polling staff jeep.
Repolling has been ordered by Andhra Pradesh State Chief Electoral Officer, DGP B Prasada Rao said.
Andhra Pradesh police along with central paramilitary forces provided effective security at all polling stations, he said.
At two places in Guntur district and at Jammalamadugu in Kadapa district, police had to open fire in the air to disperse aggressive crowds near polling stations.
At a polling station in Ramireddy Palem village of Rompicherla mandal, YSR Congress agents dragged a BJP polling agent outside the polling booth.
After police intervened, the mob became violent and police fired into the air to disperse it, the DGP said.
At Devagudi village of of Jammalamadugu, Superintendent of Police Rajesh Kumar (Commandant, Third APSP Battalion) on election duty stopped the brother of Adinarayana Reddy, the contesting candidate, after which police officers at the spot were obstructed by YSR Congress supporters.
The mob became violent and pelted stones at the APSP and other police personnel, after which CRPF personnel opened fire to control the situation.
In Nadavaluru village of Ramachandrapuram mandal of Chittoor district, television news channel reporters staged a protest on the road for being denied protection to them, after they were injured when followers of YSR Congress and TDP clashed with each other.
