Vijayawada: The first phase of gram panchayat polls went off peacefully with average poll percentage registered at 81.67 in Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday.
As the polling started at 6.30 am in all 12 districts, the turnout of voters was sluggish during the initial hours and soon picked up pace and a large number of voters started to turn up at the polling booths to exercise their franchise.
Accordingly, when the average state poll percentage was registered at 11.28 at 8.30 am, it soon picked up pace and registered at 34.28 by 10.30 am. By 12.30 pm, the average poll percentage was 62.02 and by 2.30 pm, it was 75.55. By 3.30 pm at which time, the polling was concluded, the state average was 81.67.
District-wise poll percentage includes: Srikakulam-75.77, Visakhapatnam-84.23, East Godavari-82.80, West Godavari-80.29, Krishna-85.06, Guntur-83.04, Prakasam-80.92, Nellore-80.62, Chittoor-83.47, Kadapa-78, Kurnool-83.55 and Anantapur-82.80. The highest poll percentage in the…