StatesAndhra Pradesh
Jagan says parishad polls were 'neither free nor fair', accuses Naidu government of hijacking vote
As voting for mandal and zilla parishad seats closed on Thursday, the YSRCP chief alleged that police and ruling-party workers blocked nominations, dragged out his agents and rigged booths across Andhra Pradesh.
Key points
- Jagan Mohan Reddy said the parishad polls were neither free nor fair and called them a scar on democracy.
- He alleged opposition candidates were kept out of 84 ZPTC and 2,109 MPTC seats.
- He said CCTV was installed at only 16,064 of 31,460 polling stations despite Supreme Court directions.
YSRCP president and former Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Thursday tore into the mandal and zilla parishad elections held across Andhra Pradesh, saying the exercise did not deserve to be called an election.
“Such an exercise does not merit being called an election, as it was neither free nor fair,” he told reporters at the party’s central office, as polling for 582 ZPTC and 7,767 MPTC seats drew to a close at 5 pm. “Such an election is a scar on the face of democracy.”
Nominations to polling day
Jagan accused Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu’s coalition government of taking over the process “from nominations to counting”. He alleged that police and ruling-party workers stopped opposition candidates from filing papers, and that they were kept out of 84 ZPTC and 2,109 MPTC seats.
He said the State Election Commission, the government and police ignored Supreme Court directions on surveillance, with CCTV installed at only 16,064 of 31,460 polling stations. On polling day, he alleged, YSRCP agents were dragged out or detained, voters were attacked and bogus votes were cast in places including Marutla, Chandragiri, Sunkesula, Veligandla and the Vemula and Lingala mandals of his own Pulivendula constituency.
He also questioned turnout in last Sunday’s urban local body polls, saying figures in towns such as Addanki rose from 19% to 56.7% after voting hours.
What comes next
The State Election Commission, which earlier in the day said polling was peaceful with agents present at every booth, has not responded to the allegations. Neither has the government. Ballots will be counted on November 7.