Kadapa: The stakes were very high for both the Congress and the Telugu Desam - a reason why several districts of Andhra Pradesh which voted on Thursday, reported incidents of violence.
Congress and Telugu Desam workers were seen clashing in Kadapa district, using crude bombs as the means of attack. This despite Kadapa being turned into a fortress. Clearly it was not enough.
TDP workers destroyed two EVMs at a polling station in Balapanuru, Chief Minister Rajasekhara Reddy's native village in his Pulivendula constituency.
"Everyone should restrain themselves and function according to the rules. But whenever rules are flouted, such incidents occur, which we condemn," said Y S Vivekananda Reddy, YSR's brother and also the sitting Kadapa MP.
Elsewhere in Andhra Pradesh, candidates of both TDP and Congress in Repalle assembly constituency in Guntur district were put under house arrest on charges of intimidating voters.
TDP and Congress candidates in the Macherla assembly seat, again in Guntur, manhandled each other and were arrested.
Congress and TDP workers also clashed and pelted stones in Krishna and Prakasam districts.
A very senior official in charge of the polling process in Rayalseema region said on Wednesday night, that the situation in virtually every constituency is very tense.
The war of nerves manifested itself on Thursday in the form of street brawls, with both Congress and TDP leaving no stone unturned, quite literally, to win the electoral war.