Andhra Pradesh local body elections have come under challenge after YSRC president and former chief minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy accused the State Election Commission of failing to prevent alleged electoral irregularities during polling held across the state on Sunday. He also questioned the decision to order repolling in only four polling booths.
In a post on X, Jagan Mohan Reddy alleged that YSRC polling agents were prevented from entering 70 of the 80 polling stations identified in his complaint. He claimed that Telugu Desam supporters brought from other areas had created disturbances with the support of election officials and police.
According to the allegations reported by Deccan Chronicle, some YSRC agents were attacked or dragged out when they attempted to enter polling stations. Jagan Mohan Reddy also alleged that voter slips were snatched, booths were captured and votes were rigged. He said video evidence of the incidents was available.
The former chief minister questioned whether elections could be described as free and fair when the commission had ordered repolling in only four booths despite the wider allegations. He also asked whether the commission was overlooking alleged wrongdoing by members or supporters of the ruling party.
The allegations cover a number of municipal corporations, including Kadapa, Anantapur, Tirupati, Kurnool, Chittoor, Ongole, Guntur, Nellore, Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada. Jagan Mohan Reddy did not limit his claims to a single polling location, instead alleging that similar irregularities had been reported across several urban local bodies and municipalities.
The dispute places the State Election Commission at the centre of questions over polling-station access, the protection of party polling agents and the basis on which repolling decisions are taken. For municipal elections, such decisions directly affect the composition of local bodies responsible for civic administration and urban services.
The report does not include a response from the State Election Commission, the police or the Telugu Desam leadership to the allegations. The claims therefore remain attributed to Jagan Mohan Reddy and have not been independently established in the material available for this report.
Jagan Mohan Reddy said the YSRC would approach the court over the alleged irregularities, citing the protection of the right to vote and democratic processes. Any court filing, further commission order or additional repolling decision would establish the next formal stage in the dispute.
