VIJAYAWADA: YSRCP Guntur district president and former minister Ambati Rambabu accused the Chandrababu Naidu government of destroying democracy through collusion between the ruling TDP, police and State Election Commission (SEC).
Addressing the media at his camp office in Guntur on Friday, he charged that the SEC had become a puppet in Chandrababu Naidu’s hands, facilitating forced unanimous elections through violence and intimidation.
Despite Supreme Court directions to protect candidates, YSRCP nominees were prevented from filing nominations, their papers torn in police presence and the media barred from nomination centres to conceal TDP atrocities. Police placed opposition leaders under house arrest while facilitating ruling-party candidates.
Rambabu condemned the police assault on former Minister Vidadala Rajini, who was pushed to the ground while assisting a candidate.
He highlighted attacks extending beyond YSRCP, including assaults on Jana Sena leader Bellamkonda Srinivas’s family and BJP candidate Suresh in Kadapa. Police promised protection over the phone but remained spectators during attacks on candidates, including women.
Rambabu revealed that YSRCP had identified 54 police officials, including IPS officers and Sattenapalli DSP Hanumantha Rao, for their involvement in electoral irregularities.