Andhra civic polls: Jagan stages sit-in in Pulivendula, demands repoll; 37.13% turnout by 1 p.m. | LIVE

Workers of the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) clashed in Pulivendula, the home turf of YSRCP chief and former Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, during Andhra Pradesh’s urban local body elections on Sunday (November 1, 2026).

Stones were thrown in some wards before the police brought the situation under control. Polling elsewhere, so far, has been largely peaceful, State Election Commissioner Anil Chandra Punetha said.The overall turnout in the State reached 37.13% by 1 p.m.

About 35.97 lakh of the 96.89 lakh voters had cast their votes. Smaller towns are voting faster than the big cities. Visakhapatnam, the largest corporation, had the lowest turnout at 27.55%. Voting for 100 urban local bodies, 13 municipal corporations and 87 municipalities and nagar panchayats, began at 7 a.m.

It will end at 5 p.m. Votes will be counted on November 3. Eight municipalities and nagar panchayats are not voting at all: Allagadda, Dachepalli, Darsi, Gurajala, Kamalapuram, Piduguralla, Proddatur and Rayachoti. Their chairpersons and ward members were all elected unopposed.

The polls were originally due on October 28. They were put off on the Supreme Court’s directions after complaints that candidates had been prevented from filing nominations. Patnala Papayyamma, 86, makes it a point to vote in every election, despite the hardship of travelling to the polling station, her family members said.

On Sunday, she was at the polling station in Ward 4 of the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC), set up at the office of the Superintendent of Central Tax, Bheemunipatnam, to cast her vote in the urban local body elections.

YSRCP Mayor candidate Varudu Kalyani shows her inked finger after casting her vote at AU High School in Visakhapatnam on Sunday. GVMC.jpeg YSRCP president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy staged a sit-in outside the Returning Officer’s office in Pulivendula on Sunday, demanding a repoll in the town.He alleged that YSRCP polling agents had been denied entry into several polling booths.

He had gone to the office to raise the issue with the Returning Officer, but officials reportedly did not let him in. He then sat down outside in protest. Jaya Kumar, 66, a senior citizen with ailments, made his way to the polling station at Chepala Thimmapuram, Ward 5, in Visakhapatnam on Sunday, leaning on a bamboo stick for support.

At the compound, a wheelchair stood unoccupied beside the wall. The ramp, the usual access route for those unable to take the stairs, was packed with voters standing in the queue behind its handrails. Mr. Jaya Kumar was told by the staff on duty to walk around the building and use the stairs at the other end.

The queue continued well past noon. Andhra Pradesh’s overall turnout in the urban local body elections rose to 37.13% by 1 p.m. on Sunday, up from 22.08% at 11 a.m., according to the State Election Commission. About 35.97 lakh of the 96.89 lakh voters had cast their votes.

Kanigiri in Markapuram district recorded the highest turnout, 63.36%, though only two of its wards are voting. Jammalamadugu in Kadapa district, voting in all 32 wards, was close behind at 61.86%, followed by Nagari at 60.81%.

Pulivendula, the scene of this morning’s clashes, 51.51% had voted. Among the 13 corporations, Machilipatnam is well ahead at 47.85%. Vijayawada was at 36.40% and Guntur at 30.94%. Visakhapatnam, which had the second-lowest turnout at 11 a.m., is now the lowest of all the urban bodies at 27.55%.

1 pm - Poll Percentage.pdf State Election Commissioner Anil Chandra Punetha and Secretary A. Mallikarjuna reviewed polling across the State through webcasting on Sunday. Some 13,500 CCTV cameras have been installed at polling stations, following the Supreme Court’s directions.

Nellore Collector and District Election Officer Himanshu Shukla rides a motorcycle to inspect polling stations in Nellore on Sunday. He visited several stations, including one at DSR High School in Moolapeta. Bike.jpeg Medical staff and voters attend to Pasupuleti Narasimha Rao, 70, who collapsed while arriving to vote at the Ramanagar Municipal School polling station in Ongole on Sunday.

He was taken to a hospital. Photo:Kommuri SrinivasCollapsed.jpeg The YSRCP “seems to have come ‘well-prepared’ in Kadapa” while the rest of the State is voting peacefully, Minister Nara Lokesh said in a post on X on Sunday.

The election authorities would deal with “criminal elements”, he said, urging voters to turn out in large numbers. Turnout in Kadapa district’s urban bodies stood at 25.46% by 11 a.m., above the State average of 22.08%, according to the State Election Commission’s figures.

Jammalamadugu recorded 60.92% and Pulivendula 35.17%. Kadapa city, the district’s only corporation, was at 18.54%. YSRCP president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy accused the State Election Commission of failing to ensure a level playing field in the municipal elections and of siding with the ruling NDA government.

Speaking to reporters in Pulivendula on Sunday (November 1, 2026), he said the SEC should give every candidate a fair chance from nominations to counting. “Only then it will be termed as an election,” he said. He alleged that journalists had been beaten up and their cameras destroyed in Pulivendula.

Polling agents were not allowed into polling stations, he claimed. The Centre should step in even though the TDP is its ally, he said. “If today an NDA partner is permitted to do so and the central government chooses to ignore it, then democracy will not prevail.”