Andhra Pradesh local body elections have faced a fresh challenge from the YSR Congress Party, which alleged that its candidates were attacked, intimidated and obstructed during the nomination process and demanded judicial scrutiny of the police action in Pulivendula.
YSRCP state coordinator Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy said on Tuesday that alleged attacks, intimidation and criminal cases would not force the party to withdraw from the ongoing elections. In a statement issued by the party, he demanded an inquiry by a sitting High Court judge into alleged police firing in Pulivendula, claiming that officers opened fire without provocation while opposition candidates were attempting to file nominations.
Reddy alleged that the TDP-led coalition government was preventing nominations, coercing candidates to withdraw and engineering the rejection of nomination papers before presenting uncontested victories as evidence of public support. These claims were made by the YSRCP and were not independently established in the material available for the report.
The opposition party also alleged that police personnel had directly attacked or obstructed candidates in several locations. Reddy said the Preventive Detention Act had been invoked against senior Dalit leader Rajaiah in Duggirala, within the Mangalagiri constituency represented by Information Technology Minister Nara Lokesh, to prevent his participation in the forthcoming Mandal Praja Parishad election. He further alleged that caste and no-dues certificates were being delayed while candidates faced threats.
In Kadapa, the YSRCP claimed that police stopped between 40 and 50 prospective candidates and that 10 to 12 nominations were rejected. The party also alleged that nomination papers were forcibly taken and torn in Kadapa, while nine YSRCP candidates were prevented from filing nominations in the Tirupati Municipal Corporation area.
The dispute has already moved into the courts. On October 19, the YSRCP approached the Supreme Court against what it described as violence, attacks and obstruction during the nomination process. The Special Leave Petition, filed by party general secretary L Appi Reddy through Advocate-on-Record Mahfooz A Nazki, challenged the Andhra Pradesh High Court’s October 18 refusal to extend the nomination deadline, which ended the same day.
The petition referred to alleged incidents in Punganur, Rayachoti, Kadapa and Tirupati. The YSRCP sought an extension of the nomination deadline, a fresh opportunity for candidates who were allegedly prevented from filing papers, and adequate police protection at nomination centres. The party said it would continue its legal challenge and seek intervention from the State Election Commission.
The ruling Telugu Desam Party rejected the opposition’s position in a message posted on X. It described the YSRCP’s agenda as “rowdyism and winning elections to obstruct development” and said its own agenda was to make Andhra Pradesh the country’s number one state in development. The TDP also alleged that YSRCP president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy had relied on “rowdies, thugs, and criminals”.
The allegations place the conduct of local elections, the role of the police and the scrutiny of nomination papers at the centre of a wider institutional dispute. The immediate procedural questions are whether the State Election Commission will respond to the opposition’s demands and how the courts will deal with the request for relief after the nomination deadline has ended.
