Polling to the century-old Tirupati Cooperative bank went off peacefully on Wednesday, amid charges of rigging by the opposition parties.
Voting was held at Sri Govindaraja Swamy Arts College building, which was declared as the polling station for the same, from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. As many as 130 polling booths were arranged in the building for the benefit of the 57,257 voters spread across Tirupati, Chandragiri and Srikalahasti Assembly constituencies.
Forty seven candidates were in the fray for the post of Directors, representing the ruling YSR Congress, TDP, BJP and Left. Scenting trouble, the police clamped 144 section in the vicinity of the polling station. Superintendent of Police P. Parameswara Reddy monitored the security arrangements and instructed the staff on duty to ensure peaceful polling.
However, the day broke with the house arrest of several senior TDP leaders including the Tirupati parliamentary constituency in-charge G. Narasimha Yadav. Several candidates as well as polling agents were arrested early on the day on various charges.
The party accused the ruling party of rigging the elections with the help of ‘bogus voter identity cards’ and charged the police department of behaving in a ‘highhanded’ manner against even the rival candidates, even while letting the ruling party activists go scot-free.
Taking serious exception to the manner in which the polls were held, TDP national president N. Chandrababu Naidu flashed off a letter to the District Collector K. Venkataramana Reddy, requesting him to cancel the polling process and re-conduct the same in a free and fair manner.
“The ruling party, with its illegal and unethical tactics, plans to swindle the funds of the bank which has an annual turnover of ₹350 crore and fixed deposits of ₹290 crore. The bank has to be protected and the rights of its 1.20 lakh shareholders have to be safeguarded,” he said in the letter.
Similarly, CPI State secretariat members P. Harinatha Reddy and A. Rama Naidu flayed the pre-emptive arrest of candidates and called it ‘murder of democracy’. The ruling party-supported candidates are worried of their victory and hence the unfortunate step, Mr. Reddy rued. Meanwhile, a video of a mob of unknown persons casting the stamp on a bunch of ballot papers went viral on the social media platforms.
