Guntur: Tension prevailed in Macherla assembly constituency as the deadline for filing of nomination papers for gram panchayat elections ended on Monday.
In many villages only one nomination has been received for sarpanch and ward member posts at the end of the deadline.
While 30% of the panchayats have turned unanimous in several other places as the deadline ended for the withdrawal of nominations, Macherla reported nearly 50% unanimous nominations at the end of the deadline for filing.
Local legislator and government whip Pinnelli Ramakrishna Reddy has won the seat for the last four terms without big fight from TDP. He has extended his consolidation over the constituency by encouraging the locals to patch up their differences and go for the unanimous elections.
According to information, only 20 nominations were filed for 15 sarpanch posts in Karampudi mandal and a few are expected to withdraw from the race in the next two days paving the way for unanimous election.
Similarly, only 24 nominations were filed for 20 village sarpanch posts in Veldurthi mandal. Almost similar situation prevailed in Durgi, Rentachintala and Macherla rural mandals.
TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu lodged a complaint with State Election Commissioner Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar against police and revenue officials in Macherla and Punganur Assembly segments, where nomination filing for the third phase of panchayat polls is underway.
In his seven-page complaint, Naidu said police are threatening candidates other than those supported by the YSRC, while village and revenue officials are not cooperating in issuing no-dues and caste certificates.
Further, he said YSRC henchmen were physically preventing candidates from filing papers.
He said undue delay in issuing certificates was seen in eight villages of Durgi, five of Karempudi, nine of Rentachintala, 10 of Macherla and six of Veldurthi in Guntur district.
