Ongole: The nomination process for municipal elections in Prakasam district ended peacefully, except for one clash in Darsi, district collector P Raja Babu and Superintendent of Police V Harshavardhan Raju announced.
At a joint press meet with SP Harshavardhan Raju and Joint Collector Kalpana Kumari at the Collectorate in Ongole on Sunday, Collector Raja Babu said the district received 1037 nominations in total. Of these, 71 were for Mayor and Chairperson posts.
The other 966 were for Ward Member and Corporator seats. Ongole Municipal Corporation got 32 nominations for Mayor and 528 for Corporator. Addanki Municipality received 17 for Chairperson and 196 for Ward Member. Chimakurthi Municipality got 17 for Chairperson and 172 for Ward Member. The collector said Darsi Municipality received 5 for Chairperson and 70 for Ward Member. He said the nominations will be scrutinised on Monday, and the last date to withdraw nominations is October 21. The final list of candidates will also be published on that day.
The SP said police deployed enough personnel across the district to keep the process safe. Speaking about Darsi, he said YSRCP supporters came in large numbers, exceeding the allowed limit. When police stopped the extra people so that the candidates could go inside to file papers, some in the crowd turned aggressive. They attacked the Sub-Inspector on duty and injured him. Police used a mild lathi charge to control the crowd.
The SP added that police had arranged vehicles, public announcements, and security escorts, with a DSP and an Inspector, for the YSRCP candidates. However, the candidates tore their nomination forms, said the nomination time was over, and left. To avoid more trouble between the two political groups, the local MLA and TDP in-charges were kept under precautionary restrictions.
Police have registered three cases on the Darsi incident. One case is for the attack on the Sub-Inspector. The other two are based on complaints filed by YSRCP and TDP workers against each other. The SP announced that security will be further increased during voting and counting days to keep the elections peaceful.
