YSRCP and TDP blame each other for the Pulivendula violence

Deputy Inspector General of Police Koya Praveen, Collector Sreedhar Cherukuri and Superintendent of Police Nachiket Vishwanath Shelke addressed the media in Kadapa on Saturday.

After the violent incidents in Pulivendula town on Saturday during the nomination phase of local body elections, partners YSRCP and NDA blamed each other for the situation.

Kadapa Member of Parliament YS Avinash Reddy staged a protest along with YSRCP cadres and pulled up the police department for resorting to lathi-charge, use of tear gas and firing in the air “in an attempt to strike fear among its activists”.

He said his party candidates arrived at the scheduled time given to them by senior police officials who, he claimed, later asked them to “come back and come back tomorrow”.

“How is this justified? Why can’t our candidates file their nominations at the guaranteed time today?” was his question.

While hundreds of TDP supporters were allowed to reach a certain point, the police chased away only our people, “which is unacceptable,” said Mr. Avinash Reddy, accusing the TDP men of carrying sickles and stones.

He called on the State Election Commission to provide assurance to all candidates at the nomination filing stage and ensure that they are admitted without any prejudice.

On the other hand, Pulivendula’s TDP in-charge Mareddy Ravindranath Reddy (aka ‘B.Tech’ Ravi) has asked the YSRCP to stop imagining that they will be in power.

“YSR family members and supporters are unable to tolerate the fact that so many aspirants are filing nominations in a free and fair manner in their citadel and hence this violence,” he said.

“Law breakers stopped”

Meanwhile, Deputy Inspector General of Police Koya Praveen, Collector Sreedhar Cherukuri and Superintendent of Police Nachiket Vishwanath Shelke told the media that a large crowd of candidates had gathered to file nominations on Saturday, an “auspicious date” that led to the violence.

Mr. Praveen said that any candidate along with two accomplices could file nomination but anyone who broke the law by taking out the procession was strictly stopped.

When around 500 members violated the ban under Section 163 of the BNSS and tried to march towards the nomination centre, we deployed adequate force to push them back and later used tear gas, Mr Shelke explained.

Published – 17 Oct 2026 21:01 IST