Andhra civic polls held peacefully YSRCP alleges irregularities

    Amaravati, Nov 1 (PTI) Elections to 100 urban local bodies across Andhra Pradesh were held on Sunday, with the opposition YSRCP raising allegations of irregularities such as booth capturing and bogus voting.

    Polling was largely peaceful, officials said. In Kadapa district, clashes erupted between workers of the ruling TDP and YSRCP in Pulivendula.

The TDP rejected the YSRCP charges of irregularities, maintaining that polling was free and fair.

    The elections covered 13 municipal corporations, including Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam and 87 municipalities and nagar panchayats. Polling was held between 7 am-5 pm.

    A tentative voter turnout of 60.36 per cent was recorded in the 92 urban local bodies, with 58.48 lakh votes polled out of a total electorate of 96.89 lakh as of 5 pm, according to an official. In eight others, the respective positions were "unanimous."

    YSRCP chief Reddy accused the TDP-led government of "undermining" democracy, citing "booth capturing, bogus voting and obstruction of voters at several polling stations."

    Speaking to reporters in Pulivendula, the former chief minister alleged that TDP workers occupied polling booths at 4 am itself. "Many voter slips were forcibly taken, and people were prevented from exercising their franchise," he claimed.

Responding, state Finance Minister P Keshav rejected Reddy's criticism, saying elections were conducted freely despite attempts to "intimidate" voters.

    According to the YSRCP chief, his party's polling agents were denied entry into 70 of the 80 polling booths in Pulivendula.

    The police were turning away voters who had arrived to exercise their franchise and they were "favouring" the ruling (TDP) party.

    "Councillor candidates were forcibly detained. Media personnel covering the polling process were targeted. Cameras belonging to private news channels were damaged, and reporters were attacked," he claimed.

    Reddy also questioned the functioning of the State Election Commission, claiming that it was not complying with the Supreme Court's directions.

    He alleged that there was no video recording or CCTV surveillance inside polling booths and questioned how elections could be conducted without YSRCP polling agents.

    Later, Jagan, along with Kadapa MP YS Avinash Reddy, staged a protest outside the office of the Returning Officer in Pulivendula after officials refused to allow him inside as he wanted the RO to intervene for smooth conduct of polls.

    In a release, minister Keshav said, "Despite attempts to intimidate people in Pulivendula, elections were conducted freely with the intervention of the police. People turned out in large numbers as if it were a festival."

Reacting to Jagan's allegations of booth capturing and voters being prevented from exercising their franchise, he said the people who had stayed away from voting for decades were now coming out freely to cast their votes.

Kurnool Range DIG Koya Praveen said there were incidents of hurling of stones between the TDP and YSRCP supporters at Pulivendula.

Meanwhile, police registered a case following an attack on two private national news channel journalists covering the local body elections.

    According to police, a group of about 80 unidentified persons allegedly attacked the journalists near Gandhi Statue Circle at Ahobilapuram around 8.10 am, assaulted the video journalist and damaged their professional camera after removing its memory card and battery.

    Kadapa district Superintendent of Police S Nachiket Vishwanath contacted the journalists and assured action against those responsible.

    Later, addressing a press conference here, State Election Commissioner Anil Chandra Punetha said polling across the state was peaceful in most areas, barring a few incidents reported from certain places.

Complaints and representations received from various political parties were being examined, and district collectors, police officials and election observers had been directed to take necessary action.

Polling hours in Ward 55 of Vijayawada were extended by two-and-a-half hours to 7.30 pm, following a delay in the commencement of voting due to technical and other reasons. The decision was taken to ensure that voters were not deprived of their opportunity to exercise their franchise, he said.

Meanwhile, Director General of Police (DGP) Harish Kumar Gupta said polling concluded peacefully across the state, barring a few minor incidents.

According to the top police official, 41 election-related incidents were reported from 20 districts, including Kadapa, Kurnool and Anantapur.

District police officials had been instructed to verify each incident, identify those responsible and initiate appropriate legal action.

Gupta said elaborate security arrangements had been made for transporting ballot boxes to designated strong rooms under police protection, and that security would continue until the commencement of counting.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)