Amaravati, Nov 2026 : YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) president and former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Sunday described polling for urban local bodies in the state as a “dark chapter” in the history of democracy, alleging widespread rigging, intimidation of voters and obstruction of polling agents.
In a post on X, Jagan accused Telugu Desam Party (TDP) cadres of disrupting the polling process in several urban local bodies, allegedly with the police present. He also shared a video clip purportedly showing incidents of rigging and violence.
“Broad daylight rigging, polling agents being obstructed and pulled out, and voters openly threatened and prevented from exercising their right to vote, all in the presence of police,” he alleged.
“Hey Ram! Save Democracy!” he wrote.
Jagan specifically raised concerns over polling in his home constituency of Pulivendula, alleging that YSRCP polling agents were denied entry to 70 of the 80 polling booths.
“In Pulivendula (ULB), in 70 out of 80 polling booths, YSRCP polling agents were not allowed to enter the polling stations; who is to identify the voter?” he asked.
The former Chief Minister alleged that similar incidents had been reported from Kadapa, Anantapur, Tirupati, Kurnool, Chittoor, Ongole, Guntur, Nellore, Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Macherla, Chilakaluripet, Vinukonda, Jammalamadugu, Nandyal, Cheemakurthi, Yemmiganur, Sullurpeta, Palasa, Nayudupeta, Nandigama, Jaggayyapeta, Kuppam, Puttur, Bheemunipatnam and Parvathipuram, among other places.
He accused Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s government of allowing the state’s electoral system to deteriorate and alleged that democratic institutions had been “hijacked”.
“This is no longer an election; it’s only your selection. It is an assault on democracy and a brazen attempt to subvert the people’s mandate,” Jagan said.
He also praised women and party workers who, according to him, continued to resist alleged electoral malpractice until the end of polling.
YSRCP alleges manipulation from nomination stage
Meanwhile, YSRCP State Coordinator Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy alleged that the municipal polling process had been reduced to a farce, accusing the ruling TDP of attempting to secure an artificial victory through large-scale electoral manipulation.
Addressing the media at the YSRCP central office, Sajjala said the party would demand repolling in affected areas, raise the alleged irregularities at the national level and approach the courts again.
He claimed that irregularities began during the nomination process and intensified on polling day. According to him, YSRCP candidates were prevented from filing nominations, nomination papers were torn, names were omitted from final lists and nominations were rejected during scrutiny. He also alleged that candidates were pressured to withdraw and party leaders faced cases, bind-over proceedings and house arrests.
Sajjala said the party had approached the Supreme Court with evidence relating to nearly 1,500 to 2,000 people. However, he alleged that directions concerning CCTV surveillance and the extension of nominations were not effectively implemented by the State Election Commission (SEC).
He said the YSRCP did not boycott the elections despite the alleged obstacles and continued to contest following Jagan’s direction.
In Kadapa, only two of the 66 nominations were retained, he claimed, adding that similar obstruction had occurred in Chittoor and Pulivendula.
Repolling sought in several ULBs
Sajjala listed Macherla, Chilakaluripet, Jammalamadugu, Madanapalle, Dhone, Tadipatri, Chimakurthy, Kuppam, Pulivendula, Kadapa and Chittoor among the places where the party was seeking repolling. He also cited alleged irregularities in Anantapur, Nellore, Kurnool, Ongole, Vinukonda, Markapuram, Yemmiganur and Nagari.
He accused police personnel, Presiding Officers and Returning Officers of facilitating the ruling party’s actions, while alleging that the SEC failed to intervene.
According to Sajjala, YSRCP polling agents were removed from booths after noon in several places and bogus votes were cast with police support. He claimed that party agents had been driven out of nearly 360 booths.
The allegations were made by YSRCP leaders on Sunday. The claims concerning rigging, intimidation and the role of officials were not independently verified in the provided report.
