Siblings, senior citizens sparkle in Andhra panchayat polls

By Sharon Thambala Amaravati, Feb 14 : Being held under the Covid shadow, the ongoing panchayat polls in Andhra Pradesh are witnessing the same colour, theatrics and human interest stories that accompany elections in India at all levels.
Though there was uncertainty whether the polls to the rural local bodies would be held as announced by the State Election Commission, the Supreme Court’s dismissal of the state government’s appeal to defer them led to the four phase elections kick off.
As the polls are midway, some interesting aspects include village volunteers contesting polls, a contestant wearing a gown to campaign, siblings testing electoral waters and alcohol and money allegedly being distributed as usual.
In Nellore district, two siblings are contesting but for different panchayats.
Piduru Venugopal Reddy contested the election In Nellurupalli village while his younger sister Sannareddy Rajani fought for the Nellaballi panchayati.
In Vizianagaram district, a government official’s mother is in the fray. Krishna District Joint Collector Lotheti Sivashankar’s mother Lotheti Krishnaveni filed her nomination for the sarpanch’s post in Srungavarapukota village.