YS Jagan Mohan Reddy accuses TDP-led government of brutally suppressing democracy in MPP by-elections through intimidation, attacks, kidnapping, and police misuse in Vinjamuru and Bommanahalli mandals.
YSRCP MPTCs allegedly stopped, assaulted (including injuries to a woman member), kidnapped, or detained to prevent voting, despite claimed majority, leading to ruling coalition wins.
Reddy targets CM Chandrababu Naidu for hypocrisy on democracy, calling Andhra a “lawless jungle raj”; YSRCP demands re-elections and warns of future accountability.
YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) president and former Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has launched a blistering attack on the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP)-led coalition government, alleging that democracy is being “brutally murdered” even in small local body elections like the Mandal Parishad President (MPP) by-elections.
In a strongly worded post on X on January 5, Reddy accused Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu of turning elections into a “show of force” through large-scale intimidation, violence, and misuse of police machinery.
He specifically cited the MPP by-elections in Vinjamuru (Udayagiri constituency, Nellore district) and Bommanahalli (Rayadurgam constituency, Anantapur district), where YSRCP claimed a clear majority among Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituency (MPTC) members but alleged the results were manipulated in favour of the ruling coalition.
Reddy detailed the alleged incidents: In Vinjamuru, YSRCP MPTCs were stopped on the road while heading to vote, attacked, with one woman MPTC suffering bleeding injuries, one member kidnapped, and another taken into police custody all to prevent them from casting votes. He described similar “ugly” tactics in Bommanahalli, where police and election officials allegedly acted as “silent spectators” amid coercion.
“Even in a small MPP election, the way democracy is being brutally murdered exposes the extreme high-handedness of the TDP and the dangerous nature of the coalition government led by @ncbn, who has reduced elections to a show of force instead of a democratic process,” Reddy wrote. He further slammed Naidu for lecturing the nation on democracy while allegedly turning Andhra Pradesh into a “lawless jungle raj state,” adding that kidnapping elected representatives and bulldozing the process has become routine.
The YSRCP has demanded free and fair re-elections in the affected mandals and warned of documenting all incidents for future legal accountability. The party claims the TDP's actions reflect growing arrogance and anti-democratic tendencies ahead of larger polls.
The TDP has dismissed the allegations as baseless “fear-mongering” and “fake drama,” asserting that the MPP elections were conducted fairly under tight security. Party leaders accused the YSRCP of fabricating claims to cover its own weaknesses and shield alleged bogus elements from scrutiny.
