Widespread Clashes In Andhra Pradesh Over Elections, TDP Worker Dead

Andhra Pradesh witnessed violence in at least four constituencies during today's polling, in which at least one person died. Supporters of Chandrababu Naidu's Telugu Desam Party and rival YSR Congress Jaganmohan Reddy came to blows as elections for the 175 assembly seats and 25 Lok Sabha seats in the state got underway today.

Violence between rival groups was reported from Chittur, Ananthpur, Guntakal, Kadappa, and Guntur.

The worst of these was in Ananthpur, where the TDP worker died. The party said he was beaten with sticks by members of the YSR Congress. The YSR Congress said one of its workers died as well in the same clash, but the police are yet to confirm it.

A mandal parishad member of YSR Congress was seriously injured when TDP workers allegedly attacked him at a polling station in Eluru city, reported Press Trust of India.

In Guntakal, Madhusudan Gupta, a candidate of actor Pawan Kalyan's Jana Sena party, was taken into police custody after he broke an Electronic Voting Machine in a fit of rage and shouted at the poll personnel on duty. The ballot unit, he claimed, did not have the party symbols printed properly.

In Narsaraopet constituency of Guntur, TDP men allegedly ransacked a polling station in and damaged the furniture. The YSR Congress leaders, who made the complaint, alleged that the police personnel had prevented them from entering the premises.

In Jammalamadugu of Kadapa district, tension prevailed in Ponnathota village as YSRC and TDP workers indulged in stone-throwing.

The YSR Congress and Mr Naidu have been vying for power in the state for months. Mr Naidu has accused Mr Reddy of being in league with the BJP and his other big rival - Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao.