YSRCP women candidates allege intimidation when filing urban local body nominations

As the period for filing nominations to the urban local body elections ended in Andhra Pradesh on October 18, several aspirants from the opposition YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), including many women, have alleged that they faced obstructions in submitting nominations. While YSRCP’s Kadapa mayoral candidate Bandi Deepthi Reddy successfully filed her nomination, her house was attacked by unidentified men who allegedly threw knives and glass bottles on the night of October 19, hours after the scrutiny of nominations. Another YSRCP member, Sunita Reddy, who was trying to file her nomination for the Pulivendula municipality chairperson’s post, said that the police restricted her from going to the nomination centre for the entire day on October 18, citing “law and order issues.”Both the Kadapa mayor and the Pulivendula municipality chairperson posts are reserved for women this time, and have remained the stronghold of the YSRCP in the past. Pulivendula Assembly constituency is represented by former Chief Minister and YSRCP chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. It falls under the Kadapa Lok Sabha constituency represented by his cousin, YSRCP MP YS Avinash Reddy. Sunita, who is also a relative of Jagan, said that on the morning of October 18, she and around 20 women who wanted to file nominations as municipal councillors had gathered at another relative’s house in the morning. However, they were allegedly placed under detention and stopped from going to the nomination centre a few hundred metres away, until the final deadline of 3 pm. Visuals showed Sunita and others trying to leave the house being stopped by a police officer who repeatedly requested them to cooperate in order to maintain law and order. On the previous day, October 17, police had opened six rounds of fire in the air outside the same nomination centre in Pulivendula. However, according to Sunita, she and other YSRCP candidates had tried to file nominations on October 17. “The police had communicated to the MP Avinash that the YSRCP candidates must assemble peacefully and that we would be allowed once TDP candidates were done filing their nominations. We gathered at 1.30 pm, but did not let us in till 3 pm, when the nomination centre closes. Meanwhile, they asked all the women candidates to sit inside a car. As the vehicle was being moved to the side, the police suddenly rained blows on the vehicle with their lathis,” Sunita said, alleging that the police had been acting on orders from the ruling TDP. It was around this time that the police also opened fire in the air, she added. Addressing the October 17 incident, Kadapa Superintendent of Police Shelke Nachiket Vishwanath alleged that “some people became aggressive towards the police and started pelting stones.” He said police responded with a lathi charge and tear gas, and later fired several rounds in the air after the alleged stone-pelting continued.The next day, Sunita said she was prevented from going to the nomination centre the entire day. “We were all unarmed women. There was a huge police force deployed for the nominations. They could’ve escorted us one by one,” she said. In another incident in Gooty, a woman Scheduled Caste (SC) candidate Anjala’s nomination was rejected on false grounds, alleged Nairuthi Reddy, Anantapur district vice-president of YSRCP. Nairuthi said she had accompanied Anjala who had gone to file the nomination for the post of Gooty municipality chairperson. “We saw police personnel standing at the entrance, taking nomination papers from YSRCP candidates and handing them over to TDP members, who were tearing them up,” she alleged. She said that they entered the centre through an alternative entrance, but the Returning Officer alleged that the caste certificate was invalid. The nomination was rejected during scrutiny the next day, she said. She alleged that many YSRCP candidates had faced intimidation from TDP members. A similar allegation also surfaced in Nandyal district, where Priyanka Bayini, a Scheduled Tribe (ST) candidate, tried to file her nomination for the post of Atmakur Municipality chairperson. Her caste certificate was allegedly torn by a TDP leader at the nomination centre. Kadapa mayoral candidate Deepthi Reddy said that she had been provided police protection until the day of scrutiny of nominations on October 19. That night, after the police personnel left, a few unidentified men allegedly threw stones, knives and glass bottles at her house, breaking a few windows. YSRCP has alleged widespread violence during the nomination phase for urban local bodies. Former CM Jagan has filed a complaint with the State Election Commissioner Anil Chandra Punetha, alleging that many candidates were not allowed to file nominations through violence or intimidation. The party has withdrawn its nominations in the Punganur municipality, citing violence and intimidation by TDP members. The police, however, have booked YSRCP MP PV Midhun Reddy and others over the violence witnessed in Punganur on October 16. The MP’s convoy was allegedly attacked while heading towards the nomination centre, accompanying YSRCP nominees. The TDP, however, has denied all allegations of malpractice, blaming YSRCP members instead for instigating violence at nomination centres. In Punganur, the party alleged that a vehicle from MP Midhun Reddy’s convoy drove into a group of TDP supporters and injured them. TDP working president and Minister Nara Lokesh claimed that the filing of over 22,800 nominations for the urban local body elections in the state showed that “democracy in Andhra Pradesh is alive and thriving.”Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu alleged that YSRCP was sending armed goons to nomination centres in large numbers to stoke tensions. “They are sending men rods and sending them to the nominations. Why are thousands of people turning up to file nominations? In Punganur, they tried to drive people over with a car. Is this not to create fear, to drive people away so they can do their goonda politics?” Naidu asked. He questioned why violence was being witnessed in specific parts of the state such as Pulivendula, suggesting that such incidents were being reported from YSRCP strongholds and were instigated by the opposition party. Meanwhile, YSRCP has approached the Supreme Court seeking an extension of the nomination period for urban local bodies. As per the present schedule, Urban Local Bodies will go to polls on October 28, and results will be declared on October 30. Meanwhile, nominations for the Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituency (MPTC) and Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituency (ZPTC) will be open for filing from October 21 to 23. Polling will be held on November 3, and results will be declared on November 5. Panchayat polls will be held later in three phases in November and December.