HYDERABAD: Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on Thursday called upon the ECI to take stringent measures against candidates resorting to extreme tactics like threatening suicide to sway voters. Addressing a National Voters Day programme organised at the JNTU, Kukatpally, the Governor said that during the recent Assembly elections, a certain candidate resorted to threatening suicide if voters did not cast their ballots in his favour.
The Governor urged the ECI to address such tactics that undermine the integrity of the electoral process. “I am very disheartened to say in the Telangana elections, one of the candidates was appealing to the voters, ‘Please vote for me, if you are not voting, I will commit suicide.’ That type of influence should not be there,” she asserted. She was indirectly referring to Huzurabad BRS MLA Padi Kaushik Reddy who had threatened to die by suicide along with his family members if the voters did not vote for him in the recent Assembly elections. Kaushik went on to defeat Eatala Rajender of the BJP by a margin of over 16,800 votes.
‘Vote is most potent weapon’
Tamilisai described vote as the most potent weapon wielded by the people. She stressed the need for 90-95% voter turnout. Referring to the youth, the Governor urged them to scrutinise the candidates and vote for the most deserving ones. Expressing her stance on the ‘None of the Above’ (NOTA ) option, she stated, “I am not in favour of NOTA . You assess the candidates and pick the best among them. If you don’t find them, then finally go for NOTA .”
The Governor reminded the public that the holiday on voting day is intended for citizens to cast their votes, not for leisure activities. As part of the National Voters Day event, the Governor presented awards to outstanding officials and winners of various competitions organised to raise voter awareness. State Election Commissioner C Partha Sarathi and other dignitaries were present.