Andhra: CM Jagan's party MLA slaps voter in polling queue
What's the story
An MLA from YSR Congress Party, A Sivakumar, on Monday slapped a voter who allegedly objected to him jumping the queue during polling for the Assembly elections in Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh. A purported 10-second video of the incident has gone viral on social media platforms drawing sharp reactions from various quarters.
Escalation
Voter retaliates, MLA's aides join assault
The video shows Sivakumar approaching the voter and slapping him across the face. The voter retaliated by returning the blow. After this, Sivakumar's aides circle the voter and start beating him up. Other voters waiting for their turn are seen trying to stop the assault as the MLA's aides keep hitting the voter. In the clip, no security personnel can be seen intervening to rescue the voter.
Twitter Post
Watch: MLA slaps voter in Guntur
Voter who objected to #Guntur District #TenaliMLA#Sivakumar jumping queue, was slapped by him & voter returned in kind; ugly show of political musclepower as the @ysrcp MLA candidate's henchmen joined attack on voter #BoothViolence#ElectionsWithNDTV#AndhraPradeshElections2024pic.twitter.com/Z5wK0enrWK
— Uma Sudhir (@umasudhir) May 13, 2024
2024 polls
Lok Sabha, Assembly elections underway in Andhra
The incident took place amid simultaneous polling in 25 Lok Sabha and 175 Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh. The state is witnessing a triangular contest involving the ruling YSRCP, the Congress-led Indian National Development Inclusive Alliance and the National Democratic Alliance, comprising the Bharatiya Janata Party, Chandrababu Naidu-led Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Pawan Kalyan-led Jana Sena Party (JSP).
Assembly polls
Key contenders in 2024 Assembly polls
In Andhra Pradesh, the ruling YSRCP is contesting in all 175 Assembly seats and 25 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state. As part of a seat-sharing deal among NDA partners, the TDP was allocated 144 Assembly constituencies while the BJP is contesting from 10 Assembly seats. The Jana Sena is contesting 21 Assembly seats. YSRCP president and Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy (Pulivendla), Naidu (Kuppam) and Janasena chief and actor Pawan Kalyan (Pithapuram) are in the poll race.
Amid elections
ECI rescues 3 abducted TDP polling agents
Separately, three TDP polling agents—who were reportedly abducted in Chittoor district, Andhra Pradesh—have been located and secured, state Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Mukesh Kumar Meena said on Monday. The agents were abducted allegedly by YSRCP workers from Bokaramanda village in Sadum mandal of Chittoor district, situated within the Punganuru Assembly constituency, a press release from the CEO's office said.