Telangana: Tempers rage in the heat of polls

HYDERABAD: Stray incidents of clashes between supporters of different political parties were reported across the state on Wednesday. The scuffles broke out over allegations of influencing voters during the municipal polls.
In Nizmabad’s Bodhan municipality, a TRS candidate was injured after a Congress candidate allegedly bit the former’s nose. The TRS worker, Imran, was admitted to hospital as he was bleeding profusely.The Congress worker was taken into custody following a complaint by TRS. In Gadwal’s Ganjipet booth, a clash broke out between supporters of AIMIM and Congress. “It was mild scuffle which took place between two contesting candidates near a polling station. Police controlled the situation immediately. We will be registering a case against the concerned persons,’’ Gadwal SP K Apoorva Rao told TOI.
Similarly in Boduppal’s Ward 6, there was a scuffle between TRS and Congress over an allegation of distribution of money to influence voters. In another ward, a Congress supporter was allegedly heckled by TRS cadres. Supporters of BJP and TRS in Alkapur also accused each other of influencing voters, an altercation broke between supporters of both parties over being allowed inside the booth.
Police had to resort to light lathicharge in Rangareddy’s Jalpally municipality to disperse the crowd around a polling booth. Few in the area alleged that the police were TRS supporters and had neglected bogus voting in Ward 11.
Few incidents of candidates luring voters also came to fore. Police arrested a candidate with Rs 5 lakh cash in Boduppal while another person was taken into custody from Kamareddy for distributing nose rings to women voters. In Badangpet, police had to step in to break a scuffle between Congress and TRS cadres. Additional forces were deployed after the incident.
According to director general of police (law and order) Jitender, a total of 21 election-related cases had been registered of which five pertained to assault. “The assault cases were booked in Gadwal, Bodhan and Khammam. In Khammam and Bodhan, it was a complaint and counter-complaint from the other party. The rest of the cases were related to bogus voting, distribution of money and other election code violations. There were no major incidents of violence,” Jitender said.