StatesAndhra Pradesh
Andhra parishad polls: YSRCP alleges booth capturing in Dhulipalla, Byreddy Siddharth under house arrest
Late-morning trouble flared in Palnadu and Tirupati rural as voting in the mandal and zilla parishad elections went on.
Key points
- YSRCP activists objected to alleged booth capturing by TDP cadres at Dhulipalla in Palnadu.
- YSRCP leader Byreddy Siddharth was kept under house arrest by police.
- A visit by former MLA Chevireddy Bhaskar Reddy to a booth in Mangalam caused brief tension.
YSRCP activists objected to alleged booth capturing by Telugu Desam Party cadres at Dhulipalla in Palnadu district late on Thursday morning, as polling in Andhra Pradesh’s mandal and zilla parishad elections moved into its fifth hour.
Tempers ran high at the village shortly after 11 am. Neither the police nor the TDP had responded to the charge by early afternoon, and there was no report of injuries.
Earlier, at about 10:40 am, police kept YSRCP leader Byreddy Siddharth under house arrest during the polls. The party had already said that former MP Gorantla Madhav was placed under house arrest in Anantapur, and has accused TDP workers and the local police of intimidation and obstruction since polling began.
In Tirupati rural, a visit by former YSRCP MLA Chevireddy Bhaskar Reddy to a polling booth at Mangalam triggered tension for a while around 11.20 am before voting resumed.
The new flashpoints follow the alleged hurling of petrol bombs near a booth in Erripalle, Pulivendula, and a clash between YSRCP workers and police in Gurajala earlier in the morning. Turnout stood at 11.71% by 10 am; the State Election Commission had not released a later statewide figure by 12.45 pm.
About 2.61 crore voters are electing members to 582 ZPTC and 7,767 MPTC seats. Polling ends at 5 pm, any repoll will be held on Friday and votes will be counted on 7 November.