VIZIANAGARAM: The shifting of postal ballots from the Assembly segment strong room to the Lok Sabha constituency strong room created a political ruckus in the district on Thursday night.
The close relative of Vizianagaram YSRC Assembly candidate Kolagatla Veerabhadra Swamy and several YSRC leaders allegedly entered the strong room while the election officials were grading the postal ballots. After coming to know about the shifting of the postal ballots, TDP leaders and independent candidates rushed to the MRO office and questioned the officials for opening the strong room in the presence of YSRC leaders without informing the opposition candidates and general agents.
They staged a dharna at the Collectorate accusing the election officials of bias. Later, Vizianagaram Lok Sabha TDP candidate Kalisetti Appalanaidu, and Vizianagaram Assembly TDP nominee Aditi Vijayalakshmi Gajapathi Raju wrote a letter to the District Collector on the violation of the Election Commission rules in opening the strong room.
Speaking to TNIE, Appalanaidu said, “The election officials informed us to come to the Collectorate on Thursday evening. However, they went to the strong room at the MRO office, opened it, and shifted the postal ballots to the Lok Sabha segment strong room in the presence of YSRC leaders. They did not inform us to come to the MRO office like the YSRCP leaders. Moreover, the YSRC leaders entered into the strong room by violating the norms.”
However, Vizianagaram Assembly Segment Returning Officer K Karthik refuted the allegations of TDP on the shifting of postal ballots. “We have informed all the candidates about the opening of the strong room and followed the election norms strictly,” he asserted.