Kadapa MP Y. S. Avinash Reddy was taken into preventive custody by police in view of polling for the by-elections to Pulivendula and Ontimitta Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituencies (ZPTCs) in YSR Kadapa district on Tuesday.
Polling in both constituencies began at 7 a.m. amid tight security. The process will end at 5 p.m.
Eleven candidates each are in fray in the two segments in Pulivendula Assembly constituency, the home turf of former Chief Minister and YSR Congress Party president Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy.
A total of 10,600 voters are eligible to vote at 15 polling centres in Pulivendula ZPTC, while there are 24,000 voters in Ontimitta ZPTC.
YSRCP leader and Kadapa MP Y. S. Avinash Reddy was arrested at his residence in Kadapa. He initiated a protest after a large number of police officers were deployed outside his residence.
The police dispersed YSRCP workers and took the MP into custody. Avinash Reddy is the cousin of Jagan Mohan Reddy.
Police also placed under house arrest YSRCP state secretary Satish Reddy in Vempally and TDP MLC Ramgopal Reddy in Pulivendula.
The State Election Commission (SEC) has made elaborate arrangements for the peaceful and smooth conduct of the polling.
The police have made tight security arrangements to prevent any untoward incidents. Police checkposts have been set on the borders between the two ZPTCs and also on the district borders.
Deputy Inspector General (Kurnool range) Koya Praveen was supervising the security arrangements.
Though these are only by-elections for two seats in the local body, they have attracted the attention of all due to the high stakes involved. The by-elections are a battle of prestige for both the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the opposition YSRCP.
While Jagan is going all out to maintain his grip on Pulivendula, the TDP is looking to make further inroads into the YS family’s bastion.
The TDP-led NDA alliance had won seven out of 10 Assembly seats in Jagan’s home district, Kadapa, last year.
Pulivendula Assembly seat has been the pocket borough of the YSR family for nearly five decades. The family has never lost an election here since 1978, when Jagan’s father and former Chief Minister Y. Rajasekhara Reddy (YSR) scored his first victory.
The bypoll for Pulivendula ZPTC was necessitated after the death of YSRCP leader T. Maheshwar Reddy. While YSRCP has fielded his son Hemanth Reddy, TDP’s candidate is Latha Reddy, wife of former MLC and the ruling party’s Pulivendula constituency in-charge, Mareddy Ravindra Reddy (B Tech Ravi).
Ontimitta is also going to a ZPTC by-poll as its member, YSRCP leader Akepati Amarnath Reddy, resigned after winning the Rajampet Assembly election last year.
In Ontimitta, TDP’s Muddu Krishna Reddy contests against YSRCP’s Iragamreddy Subbareddy.
The YSRCP on Monday sought immediate intervention by the State Election Commission to ensure free and fair polls.
A delegation of YSRCP leaders met the State Election Commission and sought steps to halt what they described as “unprecedented subversion of democracy”.
Earlier, Jagan Mohan Reddy accused Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu of conspiring to hijack the ZPTC by-election.
The former Chief Minister alleged that, together with certain officials, TDP’s anarchic gangs, and police officers, Chandrababu Naidu is conspiring to hijack the election.
