"Chandrababu rigged local body polls to conceal YSRCP’s rising support": YS Jagan Mohan Reddy

Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) president and former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Wednesday accused Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu of rigging the recent local body elections to conceal the growing public support for his party, alleging widespread irregularities, intimidation and manipulation throughout the electoral process.

Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) president and former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Wednesday accused Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu of rigging the recent local body elections to conceal the growing public support for his party, alleging widespread irregularities, intimidation and manipulation throughout the electoral process, a release said. YS Jagan made the remarks during a meeting with party leaders from several districts at Tadepalli, where he reviewed the conduct of the recent local body elections and appreciated party cadre for fighting with determination despite alleged electoral irregularities.

He said people had witnessed Chandrababu Naidu's electoral malpractices and understood the extent of his misuse of power. "Despite alleged irregularities at every stage, from the announcement of the election schedule to vote counting, YSRCP's vote share increased compared to the 2024 elections." He said that had the elections been conducted freely and fairly, the party would have secured a significantly higher vote share. "Chandrababu resorted to these undemocratic practices because the growing public support for YSRCP would have exposed his government's declining popularity," he alleged.

YS Jagan further said Chandrababu had introduced new methods of electoral manipulation and even overturned results in places where YSRCP had secured victories. He accused the Chief Minister of attempting to justify the alleged irregularities by spreading false narratives about local body elections conducted during the YSRCP government. He said that after committing widespread electoral abuses, Chandrababu's attempts to lecture others on democracy were astonishing.

During the meeting, party leaders told YS Jagan that they had never witnessed such electoral irregularities in their political careers and alleged that the State Election Commission had completely failed in its responsibility to conduct free and fair elections, it alleged. They alleged that bouncers were deployed at counting centres in place of authorised agents, while relatives of candidates were kidnapped to force them to withdraw their nominations.

The leaders further alleged that large numbers of YSRCP votes were rejected as invalid during counting and that power supplies were deliberately switched off at counting centres to manipulate the results. They also claimed that repeated recounts were conducted wherever YSRCP candidates had won, with vote tallies manipulated to reverse their victories, while recount requests made by YSRCP were denied.

Additional ballot papers were also supplied to benefit ruling-party candidates and secure their victories, the leaders alleged. They further stated that Chandrababu's orchestrated attacks during the elections had left victims in villages across Andhra Pradesh, exposing the scale of violence and intimidation allegedly used to influence the electoral outcome, it alleged. (ANI)