Hyderabad: Tension prevailed in Telangana’s Nalgonda district after activists from the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and Congress allegedly clashed on Wednesday, December 10.
The incident occurred in Korlapahad village of Kethepalli mandal. According to reports, the clashes were linked to the Telangana local body elections, and the Congress activists attacked the BRS workers with knives and stones.
At least four people were injured in the clashes; locals shifted the injured to the Nakirekal hospital for treatment. Some BRS leaders accused the police of inaction despite the attack on their cadre. Videos showed, workers from both parties confronting each other.
In a separate incident, a BRS worker died following a clash between Congress and opposition party cadres in Suryapet district, the police said on Wednesday.
Reacting to the incident, BRS Working President K T Rama Rao alleged that the Congress was engaging in “politics of murder.” “It shows the bankruptcy of the ruling party that it is resorting to physical attacks as it is unable to face the elections democratically,” he said.
The incident occurred in Lingampalli village on Tuesday after the election campaign concluded. An altercation took place between two groups, which escalated into a physical attack involving sticks and stones. The 57-year-old suffered a head injury, they said.
Polling underway for Telangana local body elections
Polling for the first phase of the Telangana Gram Panchayat elections is currently underway on Thursday. The voting began at 7 a.m. for 3,834 Sarpanch posts and 27,628 Ward Member posts amid tight security. A total of 12,960 candidates are in the fray for Sarpanch posts, while 65,455 candidates are competing for the Ward Member posts.
More than 56 lakh voters are eligible to cast their votes at 37,562 polling centres spread across 189 mandals. The polling will continue till 1 p.m., while the counting of votes will be taken up from 2 p.m. Subsequently, a meeting of newly-elected ward members will be held to elect deputy sarpanches.
The elections are being seen as a test for ruling Congress and opposition BRS and BJP even though Gram Panchayat polls are conducted on a non-party basis.
The poll notification was issued for 4,326 Sarpanch posts and 37,440 Ward Member posts. No nomination was filed for five Sarpanch posts and 169 Ward Member posts. Sarpanches for 396 Gram Panchayats and 9,633 Ward Members were elected unanimously.
Courts have granted a stay for elections to one Gram Panchayat and 10 Ward Members.
A total of 56,19,430 electorate, comprising 27,41,070 males and 28,78,159 females, are eligible to cast their votes in the first phase.
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