Arrangements completed for November 1 polling
Preparations have been completed for the Guntur Municipal Corporation election scheduled for November 1, with authorities setting up 596 polling stations across the city. District Collector C.M. Saikanth Varma said election personnel and security arrangements had been put in place and appealed to voters to participate freely and without fear.
The corporation election will be held along with polling for Tenali Municipality. Guntur has 6,18,714 registered voters, while Tenali has 1,57,089, taking the combined electorate for the two urban local bodies to 7,75,803. Polling materials for both elections were scheduled to be distributed on October 31, a day before voting.
Electorate and polling infrastructure
| Urban local body | Polling stations | Voters | Polling personnel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guntur Municipal Corporation | 596 | 6,18,714 | 4,514 |
| Tenali Municipality | 185 | 1,57,089 | 1,185 |
In Guntur, 4,514 polling personnel have been assigned to conduct the election. Tenali will have 185 polling stations staffed by 1,185 personnel. Elections are being held for 127 of the 128 wards in the two urban bodies, as one ward in Tenali has already been filled unanimously.
The scale of the exercise places particular importance on the orderly movement of election materials and personnel before polling begins. The administration has also made arrangements for postal-ballot facilitation centres in all mandals on October 30 and 31 for staff engaged in election duty. The provision is intended for eligible election personnel who are unable to vote at their regular polling stations because of official deployment.
Security and monitoring measures
About 1,200 police personnel will be deployed in the district to maintain law and order during polling. Election-related activity will be watched by flying squads and surveillance teams. Web cameras will be used at polling stations classified as sensitive and highly sensitive, allowing authorities to monitor the conduct of polling during the day.
- Guntur will have 596 polling stations for 6,18,714 voters.
- Tenali will conduct polling at 185 stations for 1,57,089 voters.
- Counting for Guntur is scheduled at Acharya Nagarjuna University on November 3.
- Counting for Tenali will be held at VSR College on the same day.
For voters, the administration’s appeal comes against the backdrop of a large, city-wide electoral exercise involving multiple polling locations and several layers of supervision. The district authorities have asked citizens to exercise their franchise independently, while election staff are being deployed to manage the process from material distribution through the close of polling.
Rural local body polls rescheduled
The district’s electoral calendar will continue after the urban polls. Elections to the Mandala Praja Parishad Territorial Constituency and Zilla Praja Parishad Territorial Constituency seats have been rescheduled to November 5, with counting fixed for November 7. The district has 200 MPTC seats and 13 ZPTC seats, of which seven MPTC seats have already been filled unanimously.
For Guntur residents, the immediate focus remains on November 1 polling and the subsequent counting at Acharya Nagarjuna University on November 3. The combination of a sizeable electorate, hundreds of polling stations and separate arrangements for municipal and rural elections makes coordination central to the administration’s task. Officials have reiterated that voters should take part in the process peacefully and use their franchise without intimidation.
“Voters should exercise their franchise freely and fearlessly,” District Collector C.M. Saikanth Varma said.
