EC summons Andhra Pradesh chief secretary, DGP over post-poll violence

The poll body has also directed chief secretary K S Jawahar Reddy and police chief Harish Kumar Gupta to ensure that such violence does not continue and that the model code of conduct is still in force

New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has summoned the chief secretary and the director general of police (DGP) of Andhra Pradesh to New Delhi on May 16 over post-poll violence that occurred in the state, a senior election commission official said on Wednesday.

(Representative Photo)

The senior-most officials of the state have been summoned “to personally explain reasons for the failure of the administration to contain post-poll violence and preemptive steps being taken to avoid any such incidents in future”, the official said.

The poll body has also directed chief secretary K S Jawahar Reddy and police chief Harish Kumar Gupta to ensure that such violence does not continue and that the model code of conduct is still in force.

All 25 Lok Sabha constituencies and 175 assembly constituencies of Andhra Pradesh went to polls on May 13. Violence was reported in the state on Tuesday and Wednesday.

According to a Hindu report, poll violence witnessed in the state was significant compared to the 2019 general elections, with both the ruling chief minister Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSR Congress and the Opposition parties accusing each other of resorting to violence.

The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) accused the YSR Congress of abducting its poll agents. There were complaints of the kidnapping of three TDP polling agents in the Punganur assembly constituency while the ruling party said that TDP had resorted to violence and disruptions during the voting process.

YSR Congress’ Tenali Assembly candidate Annabattuni Siva Kumar was captured on camera slapping a voter who protested when the former tried to jump the queue to cast his vote. This led to a physical altercation between the YSR Congress cadre who accompanied the candidate and the voter. The ECI eventually ordered the police to place Siva Kumar under house arrest until polling time was over, The Hindu reported.

According to chief electoral officer Mukesh Kumar Meena, there were reports of sporadic violence in several parts of the state.

In Kuppam, the electoral officials stopped polling for some time due to an altercation between YSR Congress and TDP workers. In Railway Koduru and Macherla, polling was stopped due to the alleged destruction of EVMs.

Party supporters attacked rival party sympathisers in the Tadipatri assembly constituency and Gannavaram.

The Hindu reported that a few people, including polling agents, were also injured in different constituencies because of the violence.

According to a New Indian Express report, clashes erupted in Tirupati, Tadipatri and Palnadu. Crude bombs were hurled and vehicles were damaged in Palnadu, as per a Times of India report, even as the police fired rubber bullets to disperse the clashing groups.

Due to damage to EVMs, polling was also suspended for some time in Palnadu district, Times of India reported. Polling agents were also reportedly kidnapped and released only after EC’s intervention, the TOI reported.