Video! MLA slaps voter for questioning him jumping polling queue
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Hyderabad: In Andhra Pradesh, an MLA allegedly slapped a voter after the latter objected to the former jumping the queue at a polling station in Guntur district in the state on Monday morning, NDTV reported.
A video of the incident has gone viral, and it featured YSR Congress Party MLA in Tenali, A Sivakumar, slapping the voter across the face. When the voter returned the blow, MLA's aids joined the scene and launched an all-out attack on the voter. The remaining voters, who were waiting for their turn, were also seen trying to stop the assault on the voter. However, no security personnel were seen at the scene rescuing the voter from the assault.
Voter who objected to #Guntur District #TenaliMLA #Sivakumar jumping queue, was slapped by him & voter returned in kind; ugly show of political musclepower as the @ysrcp MLA candidate's henchmen joined attack on voter #BoothViolence #ElectionsWithNDTV #AndhraPradeshElections2024 pic.twitter.com/Z5wK0enrWK
— Uma Sudhir (@umasudhir) May 13, 2024
It is not clear what exactly happened before the exchange of blows began, but the MLA's attack on the voter has come under strong criticism on social media.
NDTV reports that there is no clarity on what happened before the scene, but the video has gathered strong criticism towards the MLA on social media.
25 Lok Sabha seats and 175 Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh are voting today when the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSR Congress Party government bids to come back to power in the state. The main opposition for YSR Congress is an alliance of BJP and N Chandrababu Naidu-led Telugu Desam Party (TDP).
Referring to the video, the TDP spokesperson Jyothsna Tirunagi told NDTV that the incident shows YSRCP's desperation since they know they are losing. He said that the incident was ridiculous and the retaliation by the voter shows that people are not going to tolerate the ruling government.
Meanwhile, YSR Congress Party MLA Abdul Hafeez Khan alleged that the video was part of a conspiracy to defame the party. He added that the party is reviewing the viral video, while the party shared visuals of its injured workers and supported and alleged that TDP members attacked them.