MLA from Jagan Reddy's party strikes voter in polling queue, receives retaliation | Watch Video
PTC News Desk: A voter reportedly protested to an Andhra Pradesh MLA skipping the line at a polling booth in the Guntur district on Monday, so the legislator responded with a bold display of VIP culture, a slap.
Tenali's YSR Congress Party MLA A Sivakumar is seen approaching the voter and giving him a face slap in a video that has since gone viral. The voter strikes back, and the MLA's assistants follow suit, initiating a full-scale attack on the voter. As the MLA's assistants continue to strike the voter, other voters waiting for their turn can be seen attempting to break up the attack. No security staff are seen stepping in to save the voter in the 10-second footage.
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 #AndhraPradeshElections2024 pic.twitter.com/Z5wK0enrWK — Uma Sudhir (@umasudhir) May 13, 2024
The specific events leading up to the altercation remain unclear, but the MLA's assault on the voter has drawn harsh criticism on social media.
Voting is taking place today for 175 Assembly seats and 25 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh. The partnership of the BJP and the Telugu Desam Party, led by N Chandrababu Naidu, faces the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSR Congress Party government.
The incident, according to TDP spokesman Jyothsna Tirunagi, "captures the ruling party's desperation because they know they are losing," as she said. "This is absurd. Voters' retribution demonstrates that they will no longer put up with this absurdity."
Abdul Hafeez Khan, an MLA for the YSR Congress Party, claimed there was a plot to discredit the ruling party while stating that they were analysing the viral video. The party has posted pictures of its injured workers and supporters on social media and claimed that TDP members attacked them.
The widely shared video coincides with a heated election campaign in Andhra Pradesh, where TDP and YSR Congress Party officials have been trading barbs in the lead-up to the vote. Due to the significant stakes that both parties have in this election, tensions are also running high. Having been in the race for ten years, Mr. Reddy hopes to win these surveys once more. On the opposing side is Mr. Naidu, who has allied himself with the BJP in a determined attempt to reclaim power.
- With inputs from agencies
