The YSRCP “imported many outsiders” to rig the by-election in the Tirupati Lok Sabha constituency on Saturday, TDP national president N. Chandrababu Naidu claimed.
In a letter addressed to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), Mr Naidu called for the election to be canceled, which allegedly involved violations of the code of electoral conduct.
Buses loaded with outside people climbed onto Tirupati and fanned out to various cabins, where TDP election agents were denied entry, Naidu claimed.
“Fake Voters”
The local electoral authorities turned a blind eye even though the “wrong voters” had a free run at the polling booths, he claimed.
Mr. Naidu said he had attached video evidence of impersonators who were allegedly unable to reveal their names and other details, and alleged that the officers and police on duty were hand in hand with the leaders of the ruling party.
Naidu alleged that Panchayat Raj minister P. Ramachandra Reddy broke the code by staying in Tirupati Lok Sabha constituency after the election campaign ended on April 15. “The minister is from Yerrathivaripalle of Sodum Mandal in Chittoor district according to the affidavit of the election. But he stayed in Tirupati and even reached out to the media on election day, which was against the code. ”
Mr. Naidu requested the minister’s dismissal and a case against him.
Charges against the police
The police acted at the behest of the ruling party leaders, Naidu claimed. Police arrested TDP leaders trying to identify the “wrong voters” and detained them in Tiruchanur and Alipiri police stations, he said.
“In view of the great violations and anarchy caused by the leaders of the ruling party, the CEC should cancel the by-election and order re-election,” said Naidu.
Previously, Mr. Naidu had alleged in a letter to the state chief electoral officer that Mr. Ramachandra Reddy’s brother, Dwarakanath Reddy, was behind the “outsider” transport to impersonate, capture booths, cast false votes and violence trigger.
The PLR Convention Center and several other locations in Tirupati were the center of their activities, he claimed.
TDP agents were prevented from entering the voting booths at Ammapalyam in the Srikalahasti mandal, Kandelugunta in the Tottembedu mandal, and Bhimunicheruvu and Kasimitta in the Narayanavanam mandal.