Congress candidate in Aswaraopet demands voters to return gifts he gave

A Congress candidate in Aswaraopet allegedly asked voters to return money and pressure cookers distributed before polling, suspecting they had not supported him. Angered residents protested by dumping the boxes on the street, while his supporters blamed political rivals

Kothagudem: In a strange post-poll development, a Congress candidate in Aswaraopet Municipality allegedly demanded that voters in a ward return the money and pressure cookers he had distributed to them, much to their chagrin.

The candidate, M Haribabu, who contested from the 10th ward, reportedly suspected that voters had not supported him despite accepting money and cookers ahead of the election held on Wednesday.

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Angered by his doubts over their integrity, residents threw the pressure cooker boxes onto the street and staged a protest on Thursday. They said they had neither demanded nor expected any such inducements.

An irate woman alleged that Haribabu had voluntarily distributed ₹2,500 and a pressure cooker to each family by visiting homes late at night on the eve of polling. She claimed that he later spoke to them in an insulting manner. Others questioned how he could conclude that they had not voted for him even before the counting of votes.

A video of the incident has gone viral on social media, drawing attention to alleged attempts to influence voters. However, the candidate’s supporters claimed that his political rivals had instigated the residents to stage the protest.