Andhra Local Polls: YSRCP Alleges Money for Unopposed Wins
A fresh controversy has erupted over local body elections in Andhra Pradesh after YSR Congress Party leaders alleged that unopposed victories were being bought with money and backed by police and election officials.
The charges were raised on Sunday by Tirupati MP Madila Gurumurthy and former minister Gudivada Amarnath. They said the ruling Telugu Desam Party benefited from an alleged nexus during the polls.
According to Gurumurthy, who posted his remarks on X, TDP candidates were being made to pay Rs 40 lakh to Rs 50 lakh each to guarantee that they would win without a contest. He said this reflected a growing electoral mafia and large cash transactions in the state.
Gurumurthy also said opposition candidates faced obstruction at the nomination stage. He alleged that TDP leaders stopped YSRCP candidates from filing papers, threatened them and assaulted some of them. Nomination documents were reportedly torn up in the rooms of returning officers, he said, adding that the police stood by.
He further accused officials of rejecting opposition nominations over minor technical issues and through what he described as arbitrary scrutiny. The alleged purpose, he said, was to remove competition so that TDP candidates could be declared winners unopposed.
Gurumurthy claimed that the money collected was distributed among those who helped secure these results, including policemen and election officers. He called the matter a case of organised corruption rather than a routine poll dispute.
He urged Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu to respond to the alleged violence, manipulation and graft during the elections. He also requested the State Election Commission to order an independent investigation into cash transactions, disputed nominations and the role of the officials involved.
Amarnath, a former minister in the YSRCP, said local body polls had been turned into a platform for alleged mafia activity and mass extortion. He said TDP leaders, police and election officials were working as an organised group.
He said the money allegedly taken from each candidate was shared with police personnel, election officials and others who helped influence the results. Instead of contesting elections before voters, TDP candidates were allegedly securing unopposed wins through threats, manipulation and financial irregularities.
Amarnath asked whether this was the Chief Minister's version of democracy, where rivals are barred from contesting and unopposed wins serve as a source of income for an alleged alliance of politicians and officers.
These allegations come from YSRCP leaders. Independent verification of the claims and responses from the parties named are not mentioned in the available information.