"Don't Know If Family Under Threat": Voter Who Slapped Andhra MLA Back

Gottumukkala Sudhakar was brutally assaulted by YSR Congress Party MLA Sivakumar and his supporters when he objected to the legislator and his family members jumping the queue at the voting booth.

When Gottumukkala Sudhakar left his home last morning and headed to a polling booth in Andhra Pradesh's Tenali, little did he know that he would return with several injuries and a fear for his family members' safety.

Mr Sudhakar was brutally assaulted by YSR Congress Party MLA Sivakumar and his supporters when he objected to the legislator and his family members jumping the queue at the voting booth.

The assault was captured in a viral video, sparking outrage against the MLA's brazen show of VIP culture. In the video, YSR Congress Party MLA A Sivakumar is seen approaching Mr Sudhakar and slapping him across the face. Mr Sudhakar hits back and the MLA's aides pounce on him as other voters are seen trying to intervene.

Narrating the incident to the media, Mr Sudhakar said he and other voters were in queue when the MLA and his family members went inside the booth. "Everyone should stand in queue and vote. No one enjoys special privileges. So I asked his followers to join the queue. They must have told him when he came out after voting. He came to me and asked me, 'who are you to question, how dare you?' And then he slapped me," he said, his left eye swollen due to an injury.