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Updated: May 18, 2019 16:49 IST

Hours before the commencement of the last phase of the general elections in different parts of the country, the Election Commission of India on Saturday announced re-polling in two more polling stations in Chandragiri under the Chittoor Lok Sabha constituency of Andhra Pradesh.

Chittoor district collector and returning officer P S Pradyumna told reporters that re-polling would be held in two more polling stations: Kuppam Baduru and Kaluru villages of Ramachandrapuram block falling under Chandragiri assembly constituency on Sunday.

Earlier, the EC had ordered re-polling in five polling booths in Kammapalli, N R Kammapalle, Pulivarthipalli, Kothakandriga and Venkatrama Puram villages. “With the inclusion of two more villages, there would be re-polling in seven polling stations in the constituency from 7 am to 6 pm on Sunday,” Pradyumna said.

The decision to conduct re-polling was taken on the basis of a report submitted by the returning officer to chief electoral officer Gopala Krishna Dwivedi, following complaints from both the YSR Congress party and the Telugu Desam Party.

The Telugu Desam has strongly opposed the EC’s decision to conduct re-polling in Chandragiri, 38 days after the conduct of scheduled polling on April 11. TDP president and chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu wrote a letter to chief election commissioner Sunil Arora, questioning the propriety of conducting re-polling.

Naidu also rushed to New Delhi in the afternoon on Friday to personally meet the CEC and other commissioners to register his protest. He wondered how the EC could conduct re-polling in phases. “The EC has already conducted re-polling in five other polling stations in three districts on May 6, based on certain complaints. If there were any issues in the polling stations in Chandragiri assembly constituency, why didn’t the Commission enquire into the same and conduct the re-polling on May 6?” he asked.

Andhra Pradesh went to polls for 175 assembly seats and 25 Lok Sabha seats on April 11. The results are going to be declared along with those of general elections across the country on May 23.