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During the Tirupati Municipal Corporation mayoral nomination process, in the presence of police, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) activists forcibly snatched nomination papers from Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) Tirupati MP Maddila Gurumoorthy on Saturday.
The incident exposed the deteriorating law and order situation and the failure of police to protect even an elected Member of Parliament, MP alleged. MP Gurumoorthy, who attended the nomination process as a proposer, stated that a local Deputy Superintendent of Police stopped him and asked him to examine his nomination proposer papers. When he produced the documents, TDP activists snatched them from his hands and fled. Police personnel witnessed the incident but failed to intervene, allowing the nomination process to be obstructed. The incident occurred despite complaints lodged on October 16 regarding violence and obstruction at Booth Nos. 57, 58 and 59. The authorities failed to make adequate preventive security arrangements, resulting in further intimidation and disruption on October 17. Seeking urgent intervention, MP Gurumoorthy submitted representations to President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Chief Justice of India, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the Andhra Pradesh Governor, the Chief Election Commissioner, the National Human Rights Commission, the Union Home Secretary, the Andhra Pradesh DGP and the Tirupati SP. He cited the Andhra Pradesh High Courts October 15 order, which addresses timely legal remedies for candidates facing threats during the nomination process. Gurumoorthy demanded the immediate recovery of the nomination papers, registration of a criminal case, an impartial inquiry into police inaction, preservation of CCTV footage, action against those responsible and adequate security for candidates and proposers. He stressed that electoral intimidation and police inaction undermine constitutional protections and threaten the conduct of free and fair elections. (ANI)
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