GHMC Elections 2020 : Tension prevails at few polling booths

Hyderabad: Tension prevailed in parts of the city at various polling booths on Tuesday when the GHMC elections were underway. The areas which witnessed mild to heavy tension were Jiyaguda, Azampura, Karwan, Jangamet, Kukatpally, L B Nagar, Tarnaka.

At Jiyaguda and Karwan, activists of AIMIM and BJP clashed over the issue of BJP agents allegedly entering polling booths and threatening AIMIM candidate Swamy Yadav. He alleged that his BJP rival Yogiraj had threatened him of dire consequences.

Yadav accused the BJP activists of brandishing swords at polling booths. However, the claims of the candidates were rubbished by the police, who said that although the BJP supporters were seen to be threatening the AIMIM activists, they did not use any weapon.

Legislator of AIMIM Kausar Mohiuddin stepped into the field and refused to move from the spot until the BJP activists were taken away from the booth in Jiyaguda division. As soon as the polling began, TRS and BJP supporters clashed in the division over alleged money distribution. Heavy police force disbursed them.

Activists of AIMIM and MBT clashed in Azampura, when AIMIM objected to MBT leader Amjadullah Khan personally checking ID cards of voters. Khan claimed that he had personally caught around 50 women, who were brought from across the City for bogus voting and that the police were incapable of arresting. He alleged that the women were released in a few minutes. As a result they were seen at another polling booth.

The row at Jangamet arose when a minor boy was caught by the police with a fake ID card, when he came to vote. However, he was not allowed to cast the ballot. On questioning about his motive, the boy revealed that he was sent by his brother to vote. Upon witnessing the scene, AIMIM and TRS activists clashed. They were dispersed by the police.

A fight broke out between TRS and BJP supporters at Forum Mall in Kukatpally when BJP leaders alleged that their TRS rivals were distributing money to voters. As soon as the news broke, BJP supporters targeted the convoy of Transport Minister Puvvada Ajay Kumar and broke his car windshield. The BJP leaders alleged that Kumar was carrying money to distribute to voters. However, calm was restored after the police dispersed the rival supporters by lathi-charging them.

Some minor clashes were reported from different parts of the city, but heavy police force controlled the situation.

Tense moments were witnessed at polling station 58 of KPHB Colony and NGT Nagar polling station of Banjara Hills. Activists of TRS and BJP entered into an argument at NGT Nagar polling station after TRS protested against BJP rivals wearing saffron face masks.

The BJP supporters alleged that TRS activists wore pink artist bands. As the situation appeared to go out of control, the police dispersed them. In Kukatpally BJP activists allegedly attacked a TRS worker injuring him seriously.

Meanwhile, the Congress party objected to use of pink masks by TRS supporters during the polling. TPCC Election Committee convenor S Niranjan lodged a complaint with the State Election Commissioner on the issue and urged him to take action. The SEC call centre was inundated by scores of complaints from some workers of city industries that they were not allowed to vote.