Post poll violence continues in many areas of Andhra Pradesh

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has summoned the chief secretary and the director general of police (DGP) of Andhra Pradesh to New Delhi on May 16 over post-poll violence that occurred in the state, a senior election commission official said on Wednesday.

The senior-most officials of the state have been summoned “to personally explain reasons for the failure of the administration to contain post-poll violence and preemptive steps being taken to avoid any such incidents in future”, the official said.

The poll body has also directed chief secretary K S Jawahar Reddy and police chief Harish Kumar Gupta to ensure that such violence does not continue and that the model code of conduct is still in force.

All 25 Lok Sabha constituencies and 175 assembly constituencies of Andhra Pradesh went to polls on May 13. Violence was reported in the state on Tuesday and Wednesday.

According to a Hindu report, poll violence witnessed in the state was significant compared to the 2019 general elections, with both the ruling chief minister Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSR Congress and the Opposition parties accusing each other of resorting to violence.