Tirupati: Opposition alleges large scale irregularities in voting

Tirupati: Opposition parties alleged large scale impersonation of votes in the pilgrim city where polling was held on Saturday for Tirupati Parliament byelection. They alleged that outsiders brought by the YSRCP polled votes with fake ID cards and voters' slips while the election officials and police remained passive.

TDP leaders including former MLA M Suguna and party Tirupati Parliament constituency president G Narasimha Yadav staged a protest near Tirupati Urban office to press the election authorities to stop the irregularities in the polling going on at booths. The TDP leaders at several places stopped the buses and vans carrying outsiders came for impersonation of votes in the bypoll and forcibly sent them back which led to tension at some places with the YSRCP leaders objecting TDP activists and the arrest of TDP leaders including Narasimha Yadav, Telugu Yuvatha leader Sridhar Varma and other local leaders.

Groups of outsiders were seen near the polling booths at many places in the pilgrim city in the morning which the opposition alleged that they were outsiders brought from Piler, Mandanapalli, Punganur, Chandragiri, Kodur and Kadapa in buses and vans for impersonation of votes.

At many places, the leaders and activists of opposition parties seized bunches of fake voter ID cards and voter slips from them which was displayed to the media while mediamen also found many outsiders standing in the queue for voting holding the fake voter ID cards and slips. Congress senior leader Dr Chinta Mohan along with party activists stopped a van allegedly carrying outsiders near DBR hospital and complained to election authorities. Dr Mohan alleged that about 10,000 outsiders were brought by YSRCP for impersonation of votes. Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy sensing the aversion of voters towards the YSRCP in the byelection resorted to foul play to get a big majority. He observing that whether Jagan will be found guilty in the CBI court or not, he was caught red-handed indulging in malpractice in the bypoll cheating the voters. The Left parties, CPI, CPM, SUCI and RPI staged a protest at Gandhi statue protesting large scale irregularities in polling of bogus votes and condemned the police and election authorities for remaining silent despite outsiders in hundreds reaching the city and trying to vote with the help of fake voter IDs.

CPM central committee member V Srinivasa Rao said YSRCP meticulously planned the bogus voting and accused the ruling party of murdering democracy in the pilgrim city. He slammed the election officials and police allowing such large numbers of outsiders in the city to roam freely violating prohibitory orders and entering polling booths with fake voter cards to cast their vote.

With the electronic media and social media making a series of reports on the irregularities, displaying bunches of fake voter cards and voter slips seized by CPM, CPI, TDP, Congress and BJP activists from outsiders at several polling stations and also dozens of school buses and vans came carrying outsiders from outside going viral and creating flutter in the pilgrim city stirred the authorities.

The district collector Harinarayanan made a hectic inspection of polling stations in the afternoon in the city stirring the polling personnel and the police tightening the vigil later at the booths. Tirupati Urban SP Ch Venkata Appala Naidu said complaints were received from political parties on the outsiders with fake voter ID cards trying to vote and added that enquiry will be conducted on the allegations.