PoliticsAnnamayyaYSR KadapaPalnaduGuntur
Morning Pulse: Nominations close with the YSRCP missing in several towns, and Jagan goes to the Governor
Filing for Andhra's 100 urban bodies ended on Sunday with 25,819 nominations, but the YSRCP filed none in Punganur and several other towns. Jagan has asked the Governor for Central forces; the TDP says the opposition is trying to divert attention. Scrutiny is today.
Pan India Pulse deskBased on reports from ThePrint (PTI), The Hans India, Deccan Chronicle, The News Minuteతెలుగులో చదవండి
Since Friday afternoon's Pulse, the nomination window for Andhra Pradesh's 100 urban local bodies has closed, and the fight has moved from the filing counters to the Governor's office and today's scrutiny tables. Filing ended at 3 pm on Sunday. Telugu Post and ETV Bharat, citing election officials, put the three-day total at 25,819 nominations, with 17,291 of them filed on the last day alone. Returning officers check the papers today and are due to finish by 3 pm. Withdrawals close on October 21, polling is on October 28 and counting on October 30.
The real story of the window is where the YSRCP did not file. Deccan Chronicle reported late on Sunday that the party fielded no candidate in Gurazala and none for chairperson or councillor in Rayachoti. Its Piduguralla chairperson candidate reached the centre 20 minutes after the deadline, and its Darsi chairperson nominee and 25 councillor candidates also missed it. The Hans India listed further gaps in Kadapa district, including Yerraguntla and Kamalapuram, where it said the party filed no nominations at all. Minister Mandipalli Ramprasad Reddy said alliance candidates had already won Rayachoti unopposed, The Hans India reported. Nothing is formal until scrutiny and withdrawals are over.
Punganur is the starkest case. Former minister Peddireddi Ramachandra Reddy announced on Sunday that the YSRCP would stay out of the municipality, citing violence and intimidation, The News Minute reported. Official figures carried by The News Minute and Deccan Chronicle show 108 nominations across the town's 36 wards. All eight chairperson nominations came from the TDP; of the councillor nominations, 78 were TDP, 11 Jana Sena, five BJP, one CPI, one from another party and four independents. Police had served notices on Sunday morning asking Ramachandra Reddy and MP P V Midhun Reddy not to enter the town, citing law and order.
The courts offered no rescue. The News Minute reported that a High Court division bench dismissed Midhun Reddy's house motion petition as infructuous because the deadline had already passed, and that the State Election Commission said an extension was not possible. Yet the picture is not uniform even in the same region. In nearby Madanapalle, both outlets reported 410 nominations across 48 wards, with the TDP filing 162 for councillor and the YSRCP 153.
On Sunday evening, YSRCP president Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy took the dispute to Governor S Abdul Nazeer at Lok Bhavan, PTI and The Hans India reported. He asked for Central forces and CCTV coverage through polling and counting. He claimed that no nominations could be filed in eight places, that only 36 per cent of papers were filed in 19 places, that YSRCP papers were torn up in eight more, and that only 19 nominations came in across 36 wards in Pulivendula. He also alleged that MPs Avinash Reddy, Midhun Reddy and Gurumoorthy were mistreated at nomination centres, and said the party would explore legal remedies. These are his allegations, and neither report carried a response from Lok Bhavan.
Earlier on Sunday, Jagan met State Election Commissioner Anil Chandra Punetha. The Hans India reported that Punetha assured him anyone seeking to file a nomination would be given an opportunity. With the window now shut, that assurance will be tested at scrutiny, where returning officers decide which papers stand and whether any seat has a single valid candidate.
The TDP has rejected the opposition's account. State president Palla Srinivasa Rao said the YSRCP's demand for President's Rule was a ploy to divert attention, Deccan Chronicle and UNI reported. He accused the YSRCP of provoking clashes on the ground and then projecting a breakdown of law and order, and said the coalition was committed to free and fair elections. PTI reported no immediate TDP reaction to Jagan's meeting with the Governor itself.
Two loops from Friday close. The alliance has begun naming mayor candidates: the TDP's Kovelamudi Lakshmi Aparna filed for Guntur with Union Minister of State Pemmasani Chandrasekhar present, Deccan Chronicle and The Hans India reported. And the next round is already here. Telugu Post and ETV Bharat said the notification for 28 zilla parishads, 662 ZPTC and 9,983 MPTC seats is expected today, with nominations from October 21 to 23 and polling on November 3. We found no report yet of the High Court's reserved verdict on BC reservations.
Pulse view
Analysis by the Pulse deskAn unopposed win is the cleanest result in an election and the hardest to read. For the alliance, empty YSRCP columns in Punganur, Rayachoti and Gurazala are proof that the opposition has lost its ground game and is now blaming the police for it. For the YSRCP, the same empty columns are the evidence of its complaint: candidates kept away by violence, notices and late arrivals at the counter. Both readings fit the numbers. What would separate them is evidence, such as footage, complaints logged before the deadline and police records, and so far that has been offered mainly in press conferences.
There is a tension in Jagan's own strategy. He is asking the Governor for Central forces and the courts for relief while also saying the State Election Commissioner cannot be trusted. That may rally his cadre, but it leaves the party fighting the referee on the same day scrutiny begins. Madanapalle, where the two parties filed almost evenly, shows the contest is alive wherever both sides reached the counter. For the alliance, a string of walkovers carries its own cost: a mandate won without voters may be questioned long after October 30.
If a seat is decided before a single vote is cast, what should voters in that town be told about why there was no contest?
What they are saying
Denying people who wish to contest the opportunity to do so is a stain on democracy,
What to watch
- Today's scrutiny, finishing by 3 pm, and how many seats end up with a single valid candidate
- The State Election Commissioner's press meet in Vijayawada at 11:30 am, and any reply to the YSRCP's complaints
- Whether the Governor's office responds to Jagan's request for Central forces and CCTV coverage
- The ZPTC and MPTC notification expected today, with nominations opening on October 21
- Withdrawals closing on October 21, when the final candidate lists will be clear
Your take
Do you agree with the Pulse view?
Sources
- Jagan urges Guv to deploy Central forces, CCTV surveillance for Andhra local body polls ThePrint (PTI)
- YS Jagan meets Guv, seeks Central forces for municipal polls The Hans India
- Municipal Nomination Process Ends Amid Political Tensions Deccan Chronicle
- NDA eyes unanimous wins as nominations close for ULBs The Hans India
- YSRCP withdraws from Punganur municipality polls, alleges TDP violence The News Minute
- Punganur Poll Row Leaves YSRC Out Of Race Deccan Chronicle
- Local Body Elections : ముగిసిన నామినేషన్లు.. నేడు జడ్పీ నోటిఫికేషన్ Telugu Post
- 19th October 2026 AP News Today Live Updates: పురపోరుకు మూడు రోజుల్లో 25,819 నామినేషన్లు దాఖలు ETV Bharat
- Palla Accuses Jagan Of Seeking President's Rule To Divert Attention Deccan Chronicle
- AP: YSRCP's demand for President's rule only to divert attention UNI
