Pulivendula Sees Clashes as Jagan Mohan Reddy Alleges Booth Rigging

Andhra Pradesh urban local body elections on Sunday turned violent in Pulivendula, where YSRCP president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy accused the ruling TDP-led NDA of booth rigging and police complicity, demanding re-polling as voters participated across 92 urban local bodies with counting scheduled for November 3.

Andhra Pradesh’s urban local body elections saw brisk participation across the state on Sunday, but the contest in Pulivendula quickly descended into a severe political confrontation. Former Chief Minister and YSR Congress Party president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy accused the ruling Telugu Desam Party and its NDA partners of orchestrating electoral intimidation, booth rigging, and physical assaults with the active backing of police personnel.

Clashes and Security Deployments in Pulivendula

The voting exercise, which began at 7 a.m. across 13 municipal corporations and 79 municipalities and nagar panchayats, covered nearly 99.36 lakh eligible voters across 11,378 polling stations backed by more than 36,000 deployed police personnel. While polling was largely peaceful elsewhere, Kadapa district’s Pulivendula became a focal point of unrest as ruling TDP and YSRCP workers clashed, hurling stones at each other.

Authorities deployed around 1,000 police personnel in Pulivendula alongside CCTV cameras and drones for surveillance. Kurnool Range DIG Koya Praveen noted that police worked to restore normalcy following the stone-pelting incidents, though immediate information on individual injuries was unavailable. Tensions had flared early, with TDP workers allegedly obstructing and attacking YSRCP candidates and agents with sticks and stones around 4:30 a.m. as they headed to their stations. Three cars and 10 two-wheelers were set on fire during the clashes.

Pulivendula Sees Clashes as Jagan Mohan Reddy Alleges Booth Rigging — Photo: Social News XYZ

Ahead of the polling, Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy had held a video conference with regional coordinators, district presidents, and party leaders from the YSRCP central office to direct cadres on remaining vigilant. The conference was attended by prominent leaders including Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy, MVS Nagi Reddy, MLC Lella Appireddy, M. Manohar Reddy, Chevireddy Bhaskar Reddy, Legislative Council Deputy Chairman Thumati Madhava Rao, regional coordinators YV Subba Reddy, Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy, PV Midhun Reddy, Kurasala Kannababu, Gudivada Amarnath, Budi Mutyala Naidu, and Alla Ayodhya Rami Reddy.

Voter Intimidation and Allegations of Rigging

Jagan Mohan Reddy alleged that YSRCP polling agents were forcibly removed from nearly 70 of the 80 polling booths in Pulivendula. He claimed that TDP supporters occupied polling booths from 4 a.m. onward, intimidated voters, and prevented opposition representatives from observing the voting. According to Jagan, the party’s chairperson candidate, Pramilamma, was attacked, and polling agent Sunanda sustained a fractured hand.

Our nomination papers were torn in the presence of police and officials. Our rights were snatched away.

Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, YSRCP President

Meanwhile, YSRCP MP Avinash Reddy alleged that fake voters were brought into Pulivendula, Jammalamadugu, and Anantapur from outside areas to rig the elections.

The former Chief Minister also asserted that his helicopter was denied landing permission at the last moment while travelling from Bengaluru to Pulivendula, forcing it to circle for about 20 minutes before Civil Aviation authorities eventually granted clearance. Meanwhile, the TDP rejected the opposition’s accounts, accusing YSRCP supporters of throwing stones at police, attempting to disrupt polling, and provoking unrest.

Uncontested Wards and Pre-Poll Nominations Dispute

The friction on polling day followed weeks of friction over the nomination process.

LIVE: YS Jagan Mohan Reddy Lodges Complaint at Pulivendula RO Office Over TDP Polling Irregularities

Jagan sharply criticized these uncontested outcomes, arguing that preventing opponents from filing papers amounted to nomination rigging. He maintained that in Pulivendula, nominations could be filed in only 20 of 40 wards, and pointed to earlier incidents where police fired 37 rounds, using stun shells, smoke shells, and hand grenades amid clashes that led to attempt-to-murder cases being registered against 924 people. He also defended the welfare record of his previous administration, referencing distributed house-site pattas and completed housing initiatives alongside welfare schemes such as Asara, Cheyutha, EBC Nestham, Kapu Nestham, Amma Vodi, Vidya Deevena, and Vasathi Deevena.

Counting Schedule and Next Electoral Steps

With voting concluding, attention shifts to the secure storage of ballot boxes and the scheduled vote tally. Officials deployed comprehensive security measures across all 4,372 polling locations statewide involving 36,351 personnel to safeguard the process. Vote counting is officially set for November 3, at which point the final results for the contested municipal corporations, municipalities, and nagar panchayats will be determined.