Tirupati: Amid charges of bogus voting, Kuppam civic poll ends peacefully

Tirupati

Amid allegations of large-scale rigging by the rival parties, Kuppam municipal elections witnessed huge voter turnout on Monday. The town witnessed noisy scenes throughout the day with both the parties alleging each other of dumping bogus voters.

During the electioneering itself, the town witnessed high-profile campaigning by the TDP with top leaders like party chief N Chandrababu Naidu and Nara Lokesh launching a tirade against the YSRCP.

On behalf of the ruling party, Minister for Panchayat Raj Peddireddi Ramachandra Reddy, MPs Mithun Reddy, N Reddeppa, M Gurumoorthy and others have campaigned extensively for YSRCP. Senior leaders of both parties have camped in the constituency for almost one week and issued directions to their candidates.

Finally, on the day of polling, TDP leaders have entered into arguments with police at several wards alleging their inaction in preventing bogus voters. They were seen complaining to the media that even after they caught several bogus voters red-handed, police have simply sent them away without any action. They prevented a large number of people from Tamil Nadu borders and other constituencies in Chittoor district from entering into the town. They stopped the buses and questioned their identity in the presence of the media.

TDP national president N Chandrababu Naidu and general secretary Nara Lokesh also alleged that the ruling party had transported outsiders to indulge in large-scale rigging as they were afraid of defeat. The ruling party also traded allegations on the TDP of encouraging bogus voters and luring the electorate.

TDP cadres have reportedly raided one hospital and some private schools saying that YSRCP had given shelter to bogus voters from Rayachoti, Punganur, Thamabllapalli and several other places there. They caught several of them and handed them over to the police. TDP workers even staged a protest at a polling station with the charges that YSRCP agents were giving voter slips to outsiders.

Former Minister N Amaranatha Reddy, TDP Chittoor Parliament president Pulivarthi Nani and other leaders accused the police of conspiring with the ruling party and arresting TDP cadres instead of the bogus voters. They were earlier restricted by the police from entering the town. On the contrary, Chittoor MP N Reddeppa and YSRCP Kuppam in-charge KRJ Bharath have criticised the TDP leaders of trying to lure the voters and even created fake voter ID cards to cast bogus votes.

Taking note of the developments, TDP chief Naidu decided to fly to Bengaluru to reach Kuppam by 1.15 pm to monitor the polling which was cancelled later even after.

He reportedly held a teleconference with the local leaders and directed them to counter the bogus voting. On the whole the first election to the Kuppam municipality has ended peacefully.