Vijayawada, Nov. 5 -- Polling for the Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituency (ZPTC) and Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituency (MPTC) elections began at 7 am on Thursday in NTR district and Anakapalli district of Andhra Pradesh amid security arrangements.

In NTR district, elections are being held for 16 ZPTC seats and 276 MPTC seats out of a total of 280 MPTC seats, with the remaining four MPTC seats having been won unanimously.

A total of 55 candidates are contesting for the 16 ZPTC seats, while 631 candidates are in the fray for the 276 MPTC seats. The district has 8,35,515 eligible voters, and 992 polling stations have been established to facilitate voting.

District Collector G Lakshmisha and the police department have made arran...