ANANTAPUR: The district unit of the Telugu Desam Party on Thursday urged the State Election Commission (SEC) to order re-polling in 46 polling stations alleging that the Congress had resorted to large-scale irregularities, including rigging, in the polling held for MPTCs and ZPTCs on Wednesday.

At a dharna staged in front of the Collectorate, the party leaders observed that democracy was defeated at the hands of `Congress poll excesses.' The ruling party had violated the poll code indiscriminately and the police were a failure in majority places and they had not even accepted the complaints made by TDP supporters.

`Irregularities' detailed

Party leaders K. Srinivasulu, V. Hanumantharaya Chowdary and others spoke at the protest. They alleged that the Congress' poll irregularities were high in Penukonda, Dharmavaram, Tadipatri and Uravakonda constituencies. They had already lodged a complaint with the SEC in detail.

The TDP leaders also alleged that the Congress leaders with `criminal background' were allowed to move freely by the police and the Congress supporters' attacks at different places were encouraged by Minister J.C. Diwakar Reddy. The police had remained mute spectators to the Congress attacks on TDP polling agents, they said.

The defeat of fear had forced the Congress to resort to such attacks, the TDP leaders observed. Legislators Paritala Sunita and B.C. Govindappa, former MPs K.M. Saifullah and B.K. Parthasarathi, Peram Nagi Reddy, Palle Raghunatha Reddy, Sariputi Suryanarayana and others also participated in the protest.

Later, a TDP delegation met the SEC observers and the District Collector and submitted a memorandum to them on poll irregularities allegedly committed by the Congress.

Meanwhile, the Congress denied the TDP charges and said the sporadic incidents on Wednesday's polling were minor, compared to the TDP's poll irregularities in the 2001 local bodies' elections.

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