GUNTUR: A ballot box dispute from the parishad polls has opened a fresh front between Andhra Pradesh's ruling alliance and the opposition. A Guntur court has remanded YSRCP MLC and party general secretary Lella Appi Reddy for 14 days, until November 19, after Nallapadu police arrested him early on Friday.
What happened
- After polling ended on November 5, a ballot box from Vengalayapalem in Guntur district was unloaded midway at Nallapadu while being taken to the strong room at Nagarjuna University.
- YSRCP leaders staged a two-hour dharna, and police used mild force.
- The polling official's version is that YSRCP leaders snatched the box while it was being moved to another vehicle.
Jagan's charge, the TDP's demand
Jagan Mohan Reddy called the arrest illegal and "an outrageous abuse of power" in a post on X, and asked why the box was unloaded midway and on whose orders. TDP MLC Varla Ramaiah demanded that Appi Reddy be detained under the Preventive Detention Act, claiming the remand report lists 19 cases pending against him since 2018. He said the TDP had filed 82 complaints over poll violations.
DGP Harish Kumar Gupta said 37 incidents were reported from 15 districts on polling day. No date has been set for a bail hearing.
