YSRCP MP Gurumurthy has written to President Droupadi Murmu and Governor Abdul Nazeer, asking for an impartial inquiry into alleged irregularities in Andhra Pradesh’s ongoing local body elections. The letter, dated October 26, 2026 and datelined Amaravati, lays out a list of complaints about intimidation, violence and blocked nominations.

The MP’s letter describes a pattern of pressure on the opposition during the polls. According to the complaint, opposition candidates faced threats and attacks in several districts, including Tirupati, Kadapa, Chittoor and Annamayya. The letter frames these incidents as part of a broader effort to stop the opposition from contesting the elections.

The most serious incident cited involves Punganur, where Rajampet MP Mithun Reddy was attacked. The letter says vehicles were destroyed and set on fire during the violence. It presents the Punganur episode as proof that the climate around the polls had moved beyond heated campaigning.

Nomination filing is the second major allegation. The letter states that not a single nomination could be filed in 222 wards. Gurumurthy attributes this to threats from alliance leaders, a claim that, if borne out, would go to the heart of whether candidates were able to enter the race at all.

Demands go beyond a single district

The MP is not only pointing at individuals. He has asked for an impartial probe into the stance of the State Election Commission and into what he describes as partiality shown by the police. In other words, the complaint targets both the referee of the election and the force responsible for maintaining order on the ground.

He has also called for free and fair elections under the supervision of central forces and a retired judge. That request signals a lack of confidence in the existing machinery at the state level, and it is the kind of demand that opposition parties typically make when they believe local authorities cannot be trusted to police a contest fairly.

Not a single nomination could be filed in 222 wards, and the letter attributes that directly to threats from alliance leaders.

Why this matters for Andhra Pradesh

Local body elections shape who controls village, municipal and ward-level decisions, from budgets to civic services. When candidates cannot file papers, or cannot campaign without fear of attack, the people who lose out are voters who never get a real choice. That is why this complaint lands squarely on electoral integrity and political accountability in local governance, the two issues Andhra Pradesh readers have consistently pressed on.

The letter also raises a question about where accountability sits. By writing to the President and the Governor rather than only to state officials, the MP is asking constitutional heads to intervene. That step shows the opposition is treating the complaint as a matter for the highest levels of authority, not just a dispute between rival parties in the districts.

What the letter does not settle

The allegations come from one side of the political contest, and the material available so far is a complaint, not a finding. The letter does not establish who carried out the attacks in Punganur, nor does it provide details on the specific threats made against candidates in each district. Responses from the Election Commission, the police and the alliance leaders named in the complaint are not part of the record here.

That gap matters. An inquiry, if one is ordered, would have to examine each incident separately, from the nomination counter to the street where vehicles were torched. Until then, the core claims remain allegations, but they are specific enough to demand a clear answer from the authorities.

The next test

The coming days will show whether the state and central authorities respond to the MP’s request for an independent inquiry or let the complaint sit. For voters in the districts named in the letter, the stakes are immediate. If the allegations hold, the outcome of these local body polls could rest on who was able to file a nomination and who was kept off the ballot, not on what voters chose.