Jagan alleges large-scale malpractice in Andhra local body polls; says YSRCP vote share rose

YSRCP leader Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has accused the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) government of conducting widespread electoral fraud in Andhra Pradesh local body elections to hide the party's growing popularity. During a meeting with party leaders, Jagan alleged that irregularities, intimidation, and manipulation occurred at various stages of the electoral process, including the announcement of election dates and vote counting.

Jagan stated that if the elections had been held fairly, the YSRCP's vote share would have increased further. He accused Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu of using the state machinery to undermine the democratic process, as the TDP won a majority of 499 ZPTC and 5,861 MPTC seats.

The YSRCP president alleged that the ruling party resorted to undemocratic practices due to the public support for his party and the declining popularity of the government. He accused the State Election Commission of failing to function as an independent electoral authority and accused Naidu of attempting to divert attention from the irregularities by questioning the previous YSRCP administration's electoral record.

Party leaders attending the meeting reported that bouncers were deployed at counting centers instead of authorized election agents, and that relatives of candidates were kidnapped to force them to withdraw their nominations. They also accused the ruling party of declaring large numbers of votes for YSRCP candidates as invalid during counting and disrupting power supply at some counting centers to facilitate manipulation.

Jagan threatened to take his complaints to the Supreme Court over the alleged obstruction of YSRCP nominees in the local body polls.