Amaravati, Nov 1 Elections to 100 urban local bodies (ULBs) were underway in Andhra Pradesh on Sunday, with polling largely peaceful except for incidents of violence in Kadapa district, officials said.
Voters turned up at polling stations to exercise their franchise as soon as polling began at 7 am, they added.
The elections cover 13 municipal corporations, including Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam and 87 municipalities and nagar panchayats.
In Kadapa district, violence broke out in Pulivendula, as ruling TDP and YSRCP workers clashed.
YSRCP president Y S Jagan Mohan 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 voters’ slips were forcibly taken, and people were prevented from exercising their franchise.
However, state Finance Minister P Keshav rejected Jagan Mohan Reddy’s criticism of the local body polls in Pulivedula, saying elections were conducted freely despite attempts to intimidate voters.
According to 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.
“Voters are not being allowed to cast their votes in Pulivendula, Jammalamadugu, Chittoor, Macherla, Tadipatri and Madanapalle. N Chandrababu Naidu is not even eligible to continue as Chief Minister for a single day.”
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 Returning Officer’s office in Pulivendula after officials refused to allow him inside as he wanted the RO to intervene for smooth conduct of polls.
In a release, 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 boot hcapturing and coters being prevented from exercising their franchise, Keshav 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 stones between the TDP and YSRCP supporters at Pulivendula. Police were making efforts to restore normalcy.
Around 1,000 police personnel had been deployed in Pulivendula, with CCTV cameras and drones being used for surveillance. The police were fully prepared to handle any situation, he added.
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.
Quoting the complaint, police said miscreants forcibly took away the identity cards of journalists and tried to snatch their mobile phones.
Kadapa district Superintendent of Police S Nachiket Vishwanath contacted the journalists and assured action against those responsible.
For peaceful conduct of elections, police said elaborate security arrangements have been made at polling stations and other sensitive locations. As many as 36,351 personnel are deployed across 4,372 locations, with senior officers monitoring security arrangements to prevent disturbances and safeguard the electoral process.
Meanwhile, Nellore district Superintendent of Police (SP) Ajitha Vejendla said polling in the Nellore Municipal Corporation, Buchireddypalem Municipality and Atmakur Municipality was progressing peacefully, with no untoward incidents reported until noon.
She said the three urban local bodies together had around 6.5 lakh voters and the polling percentage had been encouraging so far, adding that adequate security arrangements had been made at all 594 polling stations, with police personnel deployed as per the prescribed scale.
All sensitive and hyper-sensitive polling stations had been covered with webcasting facilities, while videography was being conducted both inside and outside the polling premises, she said, adding that micro-observers were also deployed at these locations to monitor the process.
“The 100-metre restriction around polling stations is being strictly enforced. We have put up barricades to ensure that no unauthorised persons or groups enter the restricted area, and only voters are allowed to cross the barricades and proceed towards the polling stations,” Vejendla told PTI Videos.
Police were taking all necessary precautions for smooth conduct of polls, she added.
(PTI News)
