Amaravati, Nov 1 — YSR Congress Party president and former Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has termed Sunday’s polling for urban local bodies in Andhra Pradesh a dark chapter in the history of democracy.
“Broad daylight rigging, polling agents being obstructed and pulled out, and voters openly threatened and prevented from exercising their right to vote, all in the presence of police,” he said in a post on X.
“Hey Ram! Save Democracy!,” wrote Jagan, who posted a video clip of rigging and violence allegedly by the TDP cadres during the polling.
“In Pulivendula(ULB), in 70 out of 80 polling booths, YSRCP polling agents were not allowed to enter the polling stations; who is to identify the voter?,” he asked.
“Apart from my home constituency Pulivendula, similar incidents were also witnessed with respect to the following ULBs - Kadapa, Anantapur, Tirupati, Kurnool, Chittoor, Ongole, Guntur, Nellore, Visakhapatnam (GVMC), Vijayawada, Macherla, Chilakaluripet, Vinukonda, Jammalamadugu, Nandyal, Cheemakurthi, Yemmiganur, Sullurpeta, Palasa, Nayudupeta, Nandigama, Jaggayyapeta, Kuppam, Puttur, Bheemunipatnam, Parvathipuram and others,” alleged the YSRCP chief.
He stated that under Chandrababu Naidu’s watch, Andhra Pradesh’s electoral system is collapsing alarmingly, with democratic institutions totally hijacked. “This is no longer an election; it’s only your selection. It is an assault on democracy and a brazen attempt to subvert the people’s mandate!.”
“I specially mention and salute the brave women and dedicated party cadre who stood their ground and fought till the very last minute to save democracy,” he added.
Meanwhile, YSRCP State Coordinator Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy said the municipal polling process had been reduced to a farce, with Chandrababu Naidu resorting to large-scale electoral manipulation to manufacture an artificial victory.
Speaking at the YSRCP central office, he said the party would demand repolling, take the irregularities to the national level and once again approach the courts.
Sajjala said the irregularities that began at the nomination stage reached their peak on polling day. YSRCP candidates were prevented from filing nominations, nomination papers were torn, names disappeared from final lists, nominations were rejected during scrutiny, candidates were forced to withdraw, and leaders were subjected to cases, bind-overs and house arrests.
He said YSRCP had approached the Supreme Court with evidence concerning nearly 1,500 to 2,000 people, but even directions relating to CCTV surveillance and extension of nominations were not implemented effectively by the State Election Commission.
Despite these obstacles, YSRCP did not boycott the elections. Following YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s direction, the party stayed in the contest and fought until the end. In Kadapa, only two of 66 nominations were retained, while similar obstruction occurred in Chittoor and Pulivendula. On polling day, voters were intimidated, polling agents were denied entry and booths were captured, he said.
Sajjala listed Macherla, Chilakaluripet, Jammalamadugu, Madanapalle, Dhone, Tadipatri, Chimakurthy, Kuppam, Pulivendula, Kadapa and Chittoor among places where repolling was required. He also cited irregularities in Anantapur, Nellore, Kurnool, Ongole, Vinukonda, Markapuram, Yemmiganur and Nagari.
He said police, Presiding Officers and Returning Officers facilitated the ruling party’s actions while the SEC failed to intervene. In several places, YSRCP agents were removed after noon and bogus votes were cast with police support. Nearly 360 booths saw YSRCP agents driven out, he said.