TIRUPATI: Tension prevailed in Punganur Municipality in Annamayya district on Friday as TDP and YSRCP workers clashed during the filing of nominations for the local body elections, leaving several vehicles damaged and two TDP leaders injured.
The incident occurred when YSRCP Lok Sabha floor leader and Rajampet MP P. V. Midhun Reddy was accompanying YSRCP councillor candidates to the returning officer’s office at Basava Raja junior college polling station in Punganur town to file their nominations.
According to reports, a group of TDP workers allegedly confronted the YSRCP convoy and attempted to prevent the candidates from reaching the nomination centre. The situation escalated into a clash, with vehicles being attacked with stones and sticks. Two vehicles in Midhun Reddy’s convoy were reportedly damaged in the incident.
Two local TDP leaders sustained injuries in the clashes. The MP’s gunman was also reportedly injured.
Police personnel rushed to the spot and stepped up security to bring the situation under control. Amid heavy police bandobast, Annamayya district SP Dheeraj Kunubilli shifted Midhun Reddy from Punganur to his native place Sadhumu.
The YSRCP condemned the incident, alleging that its leaders and candidates were targeted while exercising their democratic right to file nominations. The party accused the ruling TDP of allowing its workers to resort to violence to obstruct opposition candidates during the election process.
The YSRCP demanded the intervention of the State Election Commission, registration of criminal cases against those responsible and action against police personnel who allegedly failed to prevent the violence. It also sought adequate protection for candidates and their proposers to ensure that nominations could be filed without obstruction.
Meanwhile, Punganur TDP in-charge Madhu Sudan Naidu and Andhra Pradesh Sports Authority (SAAP) Chairman Ravi Naidu visited the government hospital on Friday to console the TDP leaders injured in the clashes.
They alleged that YSRCP leaders were encouraging violent politics and claimed that followers of Rajampet MP P. V. Midhun Reddy had physically assaulted TDP leaders during the confrontation. They demanded that the police initiate appropriate criminal proceedings against the MP and his followers.
The TDP leaders said the party would lodge a complaint with the State Election Commission, seeking action against Midhun Reddy and those allegedly involved in the attack.
