Published Oct 26, 2026 | 6:19 PM ⚊ Updated Oct 26, 2026 | 7:15 PM
YS Jagan Mohan Reddy alleged widespread malpractices to aid TDP.
Synopsis: The YSRCP may name four players behind the alleged assault on democracy: the TDP led by IT Minister Nara Lokesh, who physically prevented the candidates; the state government that supplied the machinery; the police that became an arm of the ruling party and detained opposition candidates instead of the attackers; and the SEC that ignored warnings for more than a month and failed to enforce its own orders.
The Opposition Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) in Andhra Pradesh will elaborate on the denial of “the basic democratic right”, the right to contest elections, when the Supreme Court hears its case on Wednesday, 27 October.
Party chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy approached the apex court, saying YSRCP candidates were prevented from filing their nomination papers to contest the elections to 100 urban local bodies (13 municipal corporations and 87 municipalities and nagar panchayats) and rural seats in the Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituencies (ZPTCs) and Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituencies (MPTCs).
Left parties in Andhra Pradesh have also raised similar complaints.
After the Supreme Court intervened, the State Election Commission postponed polling from 20 October to 1 November. However, the YSRCP has accused the State’s Chief Electoral Officer, Anil Chandra Punetha, of siding with the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
The YSRCP is likely to list how many of its candidates were prevented from filing nomination papers. It may also point out segments without any opposition candidates. Kamalapuram is a likely example, where all 47 nominations belonged to the NDA: TDP 46 and BJP one.
The alleged police firing of an AK-47 and lobbing of hand grenades at candidates at Pulivendula, too, may be mentioned to buttress the YSRCP’s arguments. Earlier, the party alleged that “imposters” forged signatures to withdraw 49 nominations, that too seven hours after the 3 pm deadline.
Further, it has accused the State Election Commission (SEC) of reopening 40 of the 427 “obstructed” wards after the Supreme Court’s 21 October order.
Related: Polling postponed, SEC reopens nominations in 72 wards
The YSRCP may name four players behind the alleged “assault on democracy”, including “the state government that supplied the machinery; the police that became an arm of the ruling party and detained opposition candidates instead of the attackers; and the SEC that ignored warnings for more than a month and failed to enforce its own orders”.
The Opposition party may also submit that Chief Electoral Officer Punetha, a retired IAS officer, had served as chief secretary during N Chandrababu Naidu’s previous term as chief minister. The Election Commission of India (ECI) had removed him from the post in 2019. YSRCP may also point out that the DIG of Kurnool Range, Dr Koya Praveen, had also faced similar ECI action in 2019.
The YSRCP’s main argument will be that the TDP made concerted efforts to rig the elections, including redrawing ward boundaries, detaining candidates, including women, intimidating candidates using the police, planting evidence to implicate even MP Midhun Reddy in fake cases, and destroying nomination papers. It may also submit that the SEC was also a party to these illegal acts.
The Opposition party is now pinning its hope on the Supreme Court to act before the results are out. It fears that hundreds of seats will be “won” unopposed if the apex court does not act.
(Edited by Majnu Babu).
