VIJAYAWADA: Former Chief Minister and YSRCP president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has criticised the coalition government for allegedly disregarding Supreme Court directives and undermining democracy in the local body elections. He demanded the appointment of an amicus curiae to supervise the elections, besides the deployment of Central forces and CCTV coverage of the electoral process.
Addressing a press conference at the party’s central office in Tadepalli on Friday, Jagan accused the Chandrababu Naidu government of disregarding the apex court’s directives and allowing anarchy to continue during the local body elections. He alleged that attacks on YSRCP candidates, the snatching of ballot papers and police bias threatened the basic structure of democracy and could lead to a constitutional crisis.
“The situation during the ZPTC and MPTC nominations is no different. All YSRCP candidates, including women, were attacked and threatened, while their nomination papers were snatched and torn,” Jagan alleged. He also released a book titled Pachamookala Dadulu, a compilation of photographs documenting alleged attacks on YSRCP candidates contesting the local body elections. Jagan said the book would also be submitted to the courts.
“We have been reporting all incidents to the concerned officials and will also move the courts, as democracy is at stake amid the prevailing anarchy. The TDP is manipulating the nomination process by filing papers in the names of YSRCP candidates to inflate the numbers and mislead the courts. They have also forged candidates’ signatures and announced the withdrawal of their nominations,” he alleged, citing incidents in Nandyal and Nagari.
Jagan urged the courts to appoint an amicus curiae to supervise the elections and order the deployment of Central forces, video recording of the electoral process and protection for all candidates.
He also questioned the State Election Commission (SEC) over its failure to provide security to candidates filing nominations before returning officers.
“When elections are held on a party basis and we have released the list of our party candidates, why should anyone be prevented from filing nomination papers? The SEC has been undermining the Supreme Court’s directives and has selectively permitted fresh nominations at a few centres. We complained that nominations were obstructed in 19 municipalities, but the SEC considered only a handful of wards in Tirupati, Kadapa, Rajampet and Mydukur,” he said.
In Tirupati, the SEC permitted fresh nominations in only 18 wards, while in Kadapa, the facility was allowed in just 11 of the 66 wards. The same provision was made in 11 wards in Rajampet, he said.
“The coalition government has been using every trick to prevent the Opposition from contesting by rejecting nominations during scrutiny and resorting to all kinds of malpractices,” Jagan alleged. He praised party cadre for standing firm despite the challenges and said officials responsible for the alleged irregularities would face consequences.