Amaravati:
Andhra Pradesh's local body elections descended into a political confrontation on Wednesday, with the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) accusing the ruling NDA coalition of obstructing opposition nominations and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Jana Sena and BJP insisting that elections would be conducted peacefully and transparently.
YSRCP leaders demanded the State Election Commission (SEC) to protect candidates, enforce election rules and remove officials allegedly acting in favour of the ruling alliance as they alleged attacks, threats, arrests and destruction of nomination papers during ZPTC and MPTC elections across several districts.
Party senior leader Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy claimed that 76 incidents had been reported across 11 districts. He alleged that candidates were intimidated into withdrawing through threats of criminal cases and that police action often targeted victims rather than perpetrators.
"Our struggle is to protect democracy," YSRCP MLC Lella Appi Reddy said, demanding impartial officials and effective security for candidates.
Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council Botcha Satyanarayana alleged that the coalition government feared public rejection and was preventing opposition candidates from entering the contest. He vowed that YSRCP would continue its legal and political fight until the elections were conducted fairly.
The Supreme Court's intervention added another dimension to the dispute as the top court left the decision on complaints from 19 municipalities to the SEC, asked it to decide on the complaints by October 22 and directed that final candidate lists in the affected areas be announced on October 25. A status report was to be filed by October 27. The court did not order a blanket extension of nominations.
The ruling TDP-led NDA has, however, rejected YSRCP's allegations, accusing the opposition of using litigation and violence to disrupt the electoral process.
In a joint statement, Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan and BJP state president PVN Madhav said the alliance would cooperate with the SEC and respect its decisions.
As on Wednesday 22,838 nominations had been filed across Andhra Pradesh, including 8,774 by the TDP, 8,128 by the YSRCP, 1,526 by the Jana Sena Party and 4,410 by other parties.
The Andhra Pradesh State Election Commission has ordered an immediate halt to the election process in all 100 Urban Local Bodies, comprising 13 Municipal Corporations and 87 Municipalities/Nagar Panchayats, following the Supreme Court's directions.
State Election Commissioner Anil Chandra Punetha said the Commission would review complaints over difficulties in filing nominations, based on reports from district collectors and police officials, and issue further orders on October 22.
The SEC also directed officials in seven districts to ensure strict compliance with the court's orders, provide adequate security to candidates and conduct the nomination process transparently.
It clarified that NOCs and No Dues Certificates are not mandatory for filing MPTC and ZPTC nominations unless prescribed by election rules.