Polling progresses at a sluggish pace in erstwhile Adilabad

Polling began slowly across nearly 500 villages in four north Telangana districts during the second phase of elections on Sunday, with voter turnout ranging between 56 and 59 per cent by 11 am, as chilly weather kept electors away early.

Adilabad: Polling began at a sluggish pace across the erstwhile Adilabad district, where elections were underway in nearly 500 villages under the second phase on Sunday.

Officials said Adilabad district, where 139 villages from eight mandals, including Adilabad Rural, Mavala, Bela, Jainath, Sathnala, Boraj and Thamsi, went to the polls in this phase, recorded a voter turnout of 58.37 percent by 11 am. Sathnala mandal witnessed the highest polling at 63.46 percent, while Mavala mandal registered the lowest turnout at 53.06 percent.

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Kumram Bheem Asifabad district, where polling was held in 112 villages across six mandals namely Bejjur, Sirpur (T), Chintalamanepalli, Dahegaon, Koutala and Penchikalet, recorded 56.91 percent polling by 11 am. Dahegaon mandal topped the district with 62.01 percent voting, while Sirpur (T) mandal recorded the lowest turnout at 53.05 percent.

Similarly, eight mandals of Mancherial district, including Bellampalli, Bheemini, Kannepalli, Kasipet, Nennal, Thandur and Vemanapalli, recorded 56.44 percent polling. Bellampalli mandal registered the highest turnout at 63.05 percent, while Thandur mandal reported the lowest polling at 48.58 percent.

Meanwhile, seven mandals of Nirmal district, namely Dilwarpur, Kuntala, Lokeshwaram, Narsapur (G), Nirmal Rural, Sarangapur and Soan, which went to the polls, registered an overall turnout of 59 percent. Soan mandal recorded polling of 64.02 percent, while Sarangapur mandal saw voting at 55.31 percent.

Reports suggested that electors largely stayed away from polling stations till 9 am due to chilly weather conditions prevailing across the four districts. Ginnedhari village in Tiryani mandal recorded a minimum temperature of 7.1 degrees Celsius.