In a second missive to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) from the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), state president Kinjarapu Atchannaidu alleged that the ruling Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) is influencing the booth level officers (BLOs) not to distribute voter slips to non-YSRCP voters on Friday.
“Ruling YSRCP has been influencing BLOs to distribute voter slips only to YSRCP supporters. As a result, it has been observed that the BLOs are not distributing voter slips to neutral voters and to supporters of the TDP in Tirupati parliamentary constituency,” alleged Atchannaidu.
He claimed that the ‘government paid’ village and ward volunteers are allegedly distributing voter slips instead of BLOs.
“Such practice is a gross violation of the model code of conduct, discriminatory in nature and does not provide an equal level playing field to all the political parties,” highlighted the TDP state president.
According to Atchannaidu, many voters in the constituency are not aware of their polling station and other details to exercise their franchise on Saturday.
He claimed that due to the alleged non-distribution of voters’ slips, many people may not turn up to vote, leading to lower voter percentage.
Hence, the TDP leader called on the CEC to ensure that the voter slips are distributed to all the voters without discrimination.
Meanwhile, Atchannaidu alleged that even though the Election Commission has issued a memo not to allow outsiders into Tirupati parliamentary constituency after the end of campaigning at 7 p.m. on Thursday, the ruling party is allegedly harbouring a large number of outsiders.
“It has come to our notice that a large number of outsiders are being brought from neighbouring Assembly segments and districts in private buses during dark hours into Tirupati parliamentary constituency,” he alleged.
Attchannaidu alleged that around 300 people are staying at Nehru hotel in Anjimedu, 50 people from Punganuru at Sambasiva Reddy’s house and 100 more from the same place at BC colony, all in Yerpedu mandal, totalling 500 from Punganuru.
“Further, there is a strong reason to believe that Chandragiri YSRCP MLA is sending a large contingent of YSRCP henchmen from Chandragiri, Chittoor district to vitiate the election atmosphere in Tirupati parliamentary constituency,” he alleged, making similar claims on Peddireddi Ramachandra Reddy.
Finally, the opposition leader alleged that the YSRCP leaders are forcefully procuring postal ballots meant for government employees and also those aged above 80.
“Hence, it is pertinent to conduct an inquiry into the misuse of postal ballots and take appropriate action against the culprits,” Atchannaidu claimed.
