Cash Seizures, Clashes Mark Warangal Civic Polls
Former Speaker Sirikonda Madhusudhana Chary later criticised the ruling government, alleging misuse of money and influence
WARANGAL: Municipal elections in the erstwhile Warangal district on Wednesday witnessed clashes, seizures of cash and complaints of irregularities in several urban local bodies.
In the 22nd ward of Bhupalpally municipality, police seized over Rs 1 lakh after chasing an associate of a BRS candidate who allegedly discarded bundles of cash while fleeing.
The Flying Squad Team detained a person carrying 46 copies of the Bhagavad Gita with Rs 2,500 reportedly concealed inside each, allegedly meant for distribution to voters. In Narsampet’s 24th ward, officials seized Rs 11,600 from a BRS worker.
In Mahbubabad’s 14th ward, a BRS candidate, Krishna, allegedly assaulted Congress candidate Nageswara Rao during booth-level campaigning.
At a polling station in a private school in Wardhannapet, a verbal altercation broke out between BJP candidate Kondeti Satyam and police personnel, with BJP and Congress leaders alleging partiality by the police.
In Narsampet, BJP Warangal district president Ganta Ravi Kumar alleged that police used “nail-embedded lathis” to intimidate party workers. In Dornakal, absence of wheelchairs at polling stations in wards 5 and 6 led to a youth carrying an elderly woman to the booth.
In Bhupalpally, BRS leaders objected to the enforcement of the ban on mobile phones inside polling stations, leading to a confrontation with police. Former Speaker Sirikonda Madhusudhana Chary later criticised the ruling government, alleging misuse of money and influence.
The State Election Commission stated that the seized material would be processed as per law. It added that 100 per cent webcasting was implemented at critical polling stations to ensure transparency.