Hyderabad:

When Gottumukkala Sudhakar left his home last morning and headed to a polling booth in Andhra Pradesh’s Tenali, little did he know that he would return with several injuries and a fear for his family members’ safety.

Mr Sudhakar was brutally assaulted by YSR Congress Party MLA Sivakumar and his supporters when he objected to the legislator and his family members jumping the queue at the voting booth.

The assault was captured in a viral video, sparking outrage against the MLA’s brazen show of VIP culture. In the video, YSR Congress Party MLA A Sivakumar is seen approaching Mr Sudhakar and slapping him across the face. Mr Sudhakar hits back and the MLA’s aides pounce on him as other voters are seen trying to intervene.

Narrating the incident to the media, Mr Sudhakar said he and other voters were in queue when the MLA and his family members went inside the booth. “Everyone should stand in queue and vote. No one enjoys special privileges. So I asked his followers to join the queue. They must have told him when he came out after voting. He came to me and asked me, ‘who are you to question, how dare you?’ And then he slapped me,” he said, his left eye swollen due to an injury.

Mr Sudhakar said he hit back on the spur of the moment. “I didn’t even realise I had done it till they told me later. When police came, I said I won’t go anywhere before I vote. Police took me in through the exit gate. I voted, and they brought me out to the police station. They (MLA and his aides) beat me up so badly that I was bleeding, just because I asked them to follow rules,” he said.

He said he is worried about his family. “I don’t know if my family is under threat. I seek protection for my mother, me and my family.”

Local police have registered an FIR against the MLA and at least seven of his aides on Mr Sudhakar’s complaint.

The incident has also sparked a political slugfest between the ruling YSR Congress Party and the Opposition Telugu Desam Party. The TDP has registered a complaint with the Election Commission.

TDP spokesperson Jyothsna Tirunagi told NDTV yesterday that the incident captures the ruling party’s desperation “because they know they are losing”. “This is ridiculous. The retaliation by the voter shows that people are not going to tolerate this nonsense anymore.”

YSR Congress Party MLA Abdul Hafeez Khan earlier said they are reviewing the viral video and alleged a conspiracy to defame the ruling party.

Simultaneous elections to Andhra Pradesh’s 175 Assembly seats and 25 Lok Sabha seats were held yesterday. The YSRCP, led by Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy, is eyeing a third term. On the other side is former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, whose TDP has joined ranks with BJP for the big poll fight.

TDP-BJP-JSP alliance’s Payakaraopeta Assembly segment candidate Vangalapudi Anitha recently campaigning in Odisha to woo migrant voters, who settle there for their livelihood..
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

The YSR Congress Party(YSRCP) and the Telugu Desam Party(TDP) have been striving for the victory of their candidates in the Scheduled Caste reserved Payakaraopeta Assembly Constituency (PAC) in Anakapalli district.

Kambala Jogulu is the nominee of the YSRCP while Vangalapudi Anitha is from the TDP-BJP-JSP alliance.

The YSRCP chose Mr. Jogulu, who is a sitting MLA of Rajam segment in Vizianagaram district), as the party candidate by replacing sitting MLA Golla Baburao, who was sent to the Rajya Sabha.

Ms. Anitha, who has gained prominence with her vehement criticism of Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy since 2019 as the Telugu Mahila State president, is testing her luck this time. She won from the Payakaraopeta Assembly constituency once in 2014 elections, but lost in 2019 as she was shifted to West Godavari district’s Kovvur Assembly segment.

The TDP-BJP-JSP seems to be trying to project Mr. Jogulu as a non-local candidate to mar his prospects in the election. The alliance party leaders are also expecting a bumper majority to their candidate Anitha.

“There is a tradition of electing leaders from outside Payakaraopeta Assembly constituency. The sitting MLA Baburao is also once a non-local as he hailed from East Godavari district. So, there will not be much impact of the non-local tag of Mr. Jogulu in the constituency. The YSRCP is confident that Mr. Jogulu will definitely win from the seat as he is a non-controversial politician and a four-time MLA,” said a senior party leader.

The constituency has a large number of fisherfolk, who have some crucial issues to be addressed by the elected contestants. Groundwater contamination is one of the major problems as there are two chemical plants located near the coastal villages in the segment. There are no proper higher educational institutions and drinking water facilities.

“So far it does not have a government degree college. Students have to rely on private institutions or go to nearby areas like Tuni to study in government colleges,” said a resident Prasad.

PAC was formed in 1951. It currently consists of four mandals namely Payakaraopeta, Nakkapalli, Kotauratla and S. Rayavaram. Raja Sagi Suryanarayana Raju was the first MLA elected as an independent candidate from Payakaropeta in 1952. He got 9,757 votes as against his rival candidate Sunkari Appala Naidu of Congress and won with a margin of 4,027 votes. Only 31,695 electors voted out of 63,155 for the first polling that was held on March 27 in 1952 for the Legislative Assembly of Madras.

Now, it has 2,48,702 general voters, including 1,22,402 males and 1,26,298 females. There are only two third gender voters. Service electors are 435 and NRI electors are six.

Rajya Sabha member Y.V. Subba Reddy
| Photo Credit: V RAJU

Rajya Sabha member Y.V. Subba Reddy has alleged that the alliance party Anakapalli Lok Sabha candidate C.M. Ramesh is bringing rowdyism with his activities to Anakapalli district. He alleged that the recent incident at Chodavaram was an example and people from Anakapalli do not want such leaders to rule them.

He made these comments following the Chodavaram police registering a case against Mr. Ramesh and a few others for obstructing the duties of DRO officials.

Speaking to the media here, Mr. Subba Reddy also said that TDP tally has come to zero in the Rajya Sabha and soon it would turn to zero in other elected bodies also, as people were completely against the party.

Later addressing a party meeting with the leaders, MLA and MP candidates in Anakapalli, Mr. Subba Reddy alleged that the TDP was responsible for the problems being faced by the elderly persons in getting pensions during the last few days. He said that the alliance parties have a strong hatred against the volunteers, as the volunteer system introduced by the State government was always with the people helping them in all their needs and bridged gap between people and the government.

He also asked his party workers to continue to their efforts to bring back the YSRCP to power. He said that people were very happy with the welfare schemes and development, which was evident during Gadapa Gadapa ki Mana Prabhutvam programme.

IT Minister Gudivada Amarnath, Deputy Chief Minister and Anakapalli MP candidate from the YSRCP Budi Mutyala Naidu and MLA candidates from various constituencies also spoke.