YSRCP MLC Lella Appi Reddy arrested in Guntur after ballot box protest
YSRCP MLC Lella Appi Reddy and several others were arrested in Guntur in the early hours of Friday after staging a protest over an official allegedly diverting a ballot box during the MPTC and ZPTC polls held on Thursday. The arrests have pushed a local election dispute into the center of Andhra Pradesh’s political fight, and the charges against the protesters are already on record.
The protest began after polling concluded on Thursday in Vengalayapalem. According to YSRCP leaders, an election official was transporting a ballot box to the strong room when he unloaded it at the Nallapadu Centre and took it aside. That is where, the party says, a YSRCP candidate caught him red-handed while the box was being taken away towards Telugu Desam Party leaders.
“Caught the official red-handed while he was taking the ballot box to the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leaders on Thursday night,” is how YSRCP described the moment its leaders intercepted the box.
YSRCP leaders then staged a two-hour dharna at Nallapadu. MLC Lella Appi Reddy reached the spot and joined them. The protest did not stay peaceful for long, and police moved in.
Police move in and make arrests
Police used mild force to disperse the protesters. Appi Reddy and others were then arrested on the allegation that they obstructed election staff and took the ballot box into their own custody. They were taken to Nallapadu Police Station, where a case was registered against them.
The official’s account is different. He claimed the ballot box was being shifted to another vehicle, and that YSRCP leaders snatched it. So the two sides are telling entirely different stories about the same box, on the same night, at the same polling site. Police have so far acted on the complaint that the protesters interfered with election work.
A second case in Anantapur
Anantapur district is now part of the same story, though the incident there is separate. Police registered a case against 60 people in connection with an incident at a polling centre at Kuderu, where the accused allegedly entered, took away a ballot box and damaged it.
The cases filed after a complaint by polling officials are non-bailable. A police officer said the accused have been identified and that efforts were underway to arrest them. A separate case was also registered against five people for obstructing polling staff from doing their duty. In a state where the local body polls are already tense, the number of names on the FIRs is what stands out.
Violence across the state on polling day
The Anantapur and Guntur cases are not isolated. Sporadic incidents of violence were reported during polling for the Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituencies (MPTCs) and Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituencies (ZPTCs) across Andhra Pradesh on Thursday. Director General of Police Harish Kumar Gupta said 37 incidents were reported from 15 districts.
That statewide figure changes the framing. For voters, candidates and polling staff across Andhra Pradesh, the question now is whether a ballot box can be moved, opened or contested without triggering a standoff. Gupta has asked police officials to use available technology to identify those responsible. He has also directed strict legal action against anyone involved in electrical malpractices or in disrupting the poll process.
What comes next
Several points remain open. The sources do not say whether the arrested leaders have been released, what charges will ultimately be pressed, or whether an inquiry has been ordered into the official’s conduct. What is clear is that a single ballot box incident at Vengalayapalem has become a flashpoint involving a sitting MLC, a dharna, an arrest and a parallel case in Anantapur.
For now, the facts on record are narrow but explosive. An official was accused of diverting a ballot box. A YSRCP candidate allegedly caught him. Party leaders were arrested after protesting. And police say the state’s polls saw 37 incidents across 15 districts in a single day. Each side has a version of events, and the cases now filed will test which one holds up.
TL;DR
- YSRCP MLC Lella Appi Reddy and others were arrested in Guntur early Friday during a protest over an alleged ballot box diversion.
- YSRCP says an official was caught diverting a ballot box toward TDP leaders; police say the box was being shifted to another vehicle.
- Police registered a case at Nallapadu Police Station against the arrested protesters for obstructing election staff.
- In Anantapur, 60 people were booked with non-bailable cases after a ballot box was taken from a Kuderu polling centre and damaged.
- DGP Harish Kumar Gupta reported 37 incidents across 15 districts during Thursday’s MPTC and ZPTC polling.
