YS Jagan Press Meet on ZPTC Bypolls: Booth Capturing, Bogus Voting Rampant, Calls Polls a ‘Shame to Democracy’

Andhra Pradesh Former Chief Minister and YSRCP President YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has levelled serious allegations against the TDP over the conduct of the recent Pulivendula ZPTC bypoll. Speaking to the media at the party’s central office in Tadepalli on Wednesday, Jagan claimed the elections were marred by large-scale violence, booth capturing, and bogus voting.

He alleged that for every local voter, an outsider was brought in to influence the outcome. “Under Minister Savita’s supervision, groups from other areas were brought in. Adinarayana Reddy brought Nallapureddy from Jammalamadugu, while Putta Krishna Chaitanya Reddy camped in Kottapalli. B.Tech Ravi, who is not a Pulivendula rural voter, stayed in Kanampalli and created trouble,” Jagan said.

According to him, nearly 7,000 outsiders, including 700 policemen in green shirts and TDP supporters, were deployed in Pulivendula. “For every polling booth, 400 people were stationed. Police not only allowed but also encouraged bogus voting. Even in the presence of Collector Cherukuri Sridhar, TDP leaders cast fake votes,” he alleged.

Jagan further accused officials of deliberately shifting polling booths for political convenience. “Voters from one village were forced to vote in another. Should people travel to a different village to vote? They have conducted an election that has brought shame to democracy. Do they have the courage to release CCTV footage from polling booth premises or webcast footage from each booth? Can they even call this an election in Pulivendula?” he asked.

Condemning the violence, Jagan said, “Andhra Pradesh is witnessing a collapse of democracy and law and order. Never in the state’s history has there been so much violence during an election. Chandrababu Naidu conducted the polls like a gang of dacoits, worse than Chambal Valley bandits. He is the ringleader of this gang, engaging in lawless and destructive politics. He is a mobster and a fraudster. If he truly believes in his governance, let him hold elections democratically with central forces.”

He also criticised the absence of YSRCP polling agents in many booths. “The right to check voter lists belongs to polling agents, but police snatched Form-12 from them and prevented them from sitting inside. In at least 15 booths, there were no YSRCP agents. How can polls be conducted without agents? Such injustice has never been seen before in state elections,” Jagan said.

Citing incidents in Pulivendula and Ontimitta during the bypolls, he said they were proof of the breakdown of law and order. “There is neither peace nor democracy in Andhra Pradesh. What happened yesterday is the evidence,” he concluded.