Telugu Desam Party (TDP) national president N. Chandrababu Naidu on Friday demanded the State Election Commissioner (SEC) to provide security to its candidates filing nominations for local body polls after a TDP candidate was attacked in Kuppam.

The former chief minister alleged that TDP candidate V. Venkatesh was attacked when he was filing nomination for polls to Kuppam municipality.

In a letter to SEC Neelam Sawhney, Naidu said it came to his notice that the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) goons attacked V. Venkatesh, who is the TDP candidate for the 14th ward in Kuppam municipality.

Kuppam in Chittoor district is the Assembly constituency represented by Chandrababu Naidu.

The TDP chief said YSRCP leader Muniswamy and his henchmen attacked Venkatesh to prevent him from filing nomination.

Naidu told the SEC that over 25 to 30 goondas waylaid and assulted Venkatesh when he approached the nomination centre set up at MFC Junior College in Kuppam. The goons rained blows on Venkatesh and snatched away his nomination papers, tore them and then destroyed them. They also took away his cell phone.

Naidu said the attack was serious and an injured Venkatesh was thrown on the roadside, outside the nomination centre. When some of the followers of Dr Venkatesh tried to intervene, the miscreants tried to attack them. Finally, the attackers fled the scene leaving him in an unconscious state.

The TDP chief attached two photographs of Venkatesh with bleeding injury on his elbow.

Naidu demanded the SEC to provide security to candidates aspiring to contest in the present elections as directed recently by the Election Commission. He urged the poll panel to take immediate action against the culprits and also provide immediate protection to all the candidates intending to file nominations.

He also sought deployment of additional police force to ensure smooth, free and fair conduct of elections.

The SEC on Monday announced elections to local bodies, where polls were not conducted earlier for various reasons, including the death of contesting candidates.

The elections will be conducted for panchayats on November 14, municipalities on November 15 and ZPTC and MPTCs on November 16.

The elections are being held for 69 sarpanches and 533 ward members in 498 Gram Panchayats, 12 municipalities and the Nellore Municipal Corporation.

The municipalities that are going to polls include Akiveedu, Jaggayyapet, Kondapalli, Dachepalli, Gurazala, Darsi, Buchireddypalem, Kuppam, Bethamcherla, Kamalapuram, Rajampet and Penukonda.

TDP President and former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday slammed the State Election Commission (SEC) for receiving nominations for local body elections on Diwali.

He came down heavily on the state poll panel, claiming it was not taking independent decisions and was “blindly following the orders” of the YSRCP government.

He questioned the rationale behind the SEC continuing the election process even on Diwali day.

“How can the candidates be asked to file their nominations when all others were celebrating the festival? The anarchic regime was deriving sadistic pleasure by hurting religious sentiments as well. Would they hold an election on Christmas,” he asked.

He demanded an explanation from the SEC and the DGP on the ruling YSRCP’s threats to prevent the opposition candidates from filing nominations in the civic body elections.

The TDP chief alleged that just like before, the YSRCP was trying to turn the present election to the 12 municipalities and one municipal corporation into a farce.

The ruling party leaders, the police and the officials were directly threatening and asking the opposition candidates not to file nominations. In some cases, nomination papers were being torn off, he said.

Naidu showed a video and pointed out how a village vice president belonging to the YSRCP was directly threatening the rival candidate not to file nomination.

“The YSRCP village leader was behaving locally just like how Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy has been behaving like an unlawful person at the state level. With their uncontrolled sadism and offences, the YSRCP leaders have turned Andhra Pradesh into a ‘State of lunatics’,” he said.

Naidu cautioned the opposition candidates to take maximum precautions to ensure that their nominations would remain valid. As the officials were trying to invalidate nominations at various stages, the candidates should take the help of advocates and get proper acknowledgements after filing nominations, he said, adding that copies of their nominations should be mailed to the District Collectors, the SEC and the election observers.

Naidu asserted that if the election officials committed any election fraud, the TDP would approach the courts and seek the required relief. The opposition candidates were receiving threats from the ruling party and they should record all such calls for evidence before the courts. The general public should also join the fight to prevent the anti-social elements and the YSRCP goondas from taking democracy for a ride, he said.

Referring to Kuppam polls, he alleged that Punganur Commissioner Lokeshwar Varma was appointed special officer for Kuppam in order to rig the elections. This officer has started ordering all the Government staff on duty in elections to ensure the YCP victory. He alleged that Varma behaved in a criminal way and got all 24 wards in Punganur declared unanimously for the YSRCP in the past.

Naidu asked how the SEC could appoint a tainted officer like Varma for Kuppam polls.

“The TDP got 25 percent more votes in Kuppam in the 2019 elections. Minister Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy along with his officials were scheming to reverse this trend with their anarchic activities. The YSRCP leaders were indeed desperate to win all elections so as to cover up their Government’s miserable failures and rising unpopularity,” he said.

The TDP chief warned that if the officials continued to support the ‘Tughlaq’ rule, it would be the beginning of their end. “The TDP would surely form a commission to probe and punish all such officers who colluded with the lawless regime of Jagan Reddy,” he said.

Naidu also claimed that the CM and his MLAs were getting terrified of the rising discontent and resentment of all sections of the people against their government. Instead of showing his frustration in the civic polls, Jaganmohan Reddy should dissolve the Assembly and face the public, he demanded.

What did Chandrababu Naidu and his team achieve through its two-day tour of Delhi? There is a divided talk within the party of the very purpose of the visit. One section feels that the visit was pointless, but another section feels that the visit served the purpose by highlighting the issue to a larger audience.

Though Chandrababu failed to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah, he managed to secure an audience with the President of the country. He highlighted the issue of lawlessness in AP and the issue of ruling party-sponsored attack on the opposition. He has managed to establish the vicious role that the YSRCP leadership had played. Also, he managed to highlight the issue of drug menace.

During the two days he stayed in Delhi, Chandrababu addressed the press and also gave personal one-to-one interviews to all the media houses. He could have done the same thing while being in either Hyderabad or Vijayawada. But, he chose Delhi to get media attention. The media houses gave disproportionate coverage to Chandrababu. The ruling YSRCP did not have an immediate counter to this media blitzkrieg.

But some people within the TDP felt that the whole issue was being seen as an ego clash between two leaders. They feel that Chandrababu should also have highlighted issues like special status, Amaravati and Polavaram during his meeting with the President of the country. That would have given more credence to the party and would have given an impression that this was not a personal ego clash but a fight for state’s interest.

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leaders and workers from different parts of Andhra Pradesh were pouring at the Mangalagiri party headquarters where party president N. Chandrababu Naidu continued his sit-in on Friday to protest Tuesday’s attacks allegedly by the workers of ruling YSR Congress Party (YSRCP).

A large number of party supporters from various parts of the State descended on the party’s central office to express solidarity with their leader.

TDP leaders alleged that due to the traffic restrictions imposed by police, those coming from other parts of the state were being forced to leave their vehicles and walk long distances to reach the party office.

Naidu, who began the 36-hour protest at 8 a.m. on Thursday, spent the night at the protest site and resumed the protest on Friday morning after garlanding the statue of party founder and former chief minister N.T. Rama Rao. The protest with the title ‘fight against state terrorism’ will continue till 8 p.m. on Friday.

TDP leaders and workers coming to the party office were gathering in front of Naidu sitting on a specially arranged sofa. The TDP chief was responding with folded hands. Party leaders were addressing the gathering to condemn the attacks on party offices and leaders.

Naidu has demanded the Centre’s intervention to save the people of Andhra Pradesh from what he called the drug mafia and the undemocratic and fascist regime.

The leader of opposition has urged the Centre to invoke Article 356, saying Andhra Pradesh in its present situation was a fit case for imposition of the President’s rule.

He alleged that Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy was growing impatient over the increasing public resentment against his government’s atrocities, all round corruption and attacks on all constitutional institutions. Tuesday’s attack on TDP main office was not a sporadic, isolated incident but a culmination of two-and-a-half years of lawless, anarchic and oppressive regime, he said.

Alleged workers of YSRCP attacked TDP’s central office on Tuesday in an apparent reaction to TDP spokesman Pattabhi Ram using abusive words while criticising Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy.

TDP offices in some other places in the state and Pattabhi Ram’s house in Vijayawada were also attacked.

Ram was arrested by the police on Wednesday and a court in Vijayawada sent him to judicial custody for 14 days.