Polling on for Andhra assembly by-poll

Polling was on Wednesday in the by-election to Avanigadda assembly constituency in Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh.

Lack of enthusiasm among voters marked the polling due to the absence of candidates of major parties barring Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and also the ongoing political turmoil in Seemandhra over the centre's decision to carve out separate Telangana state.

The polling which began at 8 a.m. at 241 polling stations, will continue till 5 p.m.

Only 10 percent votes were polled in the first three hours, said election officials. There are 1.88 lakh voters in the constituency.

The counting of votes will be taken up Aug 24.

The by-poll was necessitated by the death of sitting legislator Ambati Brahmaiah of TDP. The main opposition party has fielded his son Hari Prasad.

Keeping with the tradition, the ruling Congress party, opposition YSR Congress and other major parties did not field their candidates to ensure unanimous election of Hari Prasad

However, the contest became inevitable with two independent candidates filing their nominations. Earlier, 13 independents withdrew their nominations following an appeal by the TDP leaders.