VIJAYAWADA: Welcoming the decision of the State Election Commission (SEC) to conduct elections to local bodies, TDP supremo and Leader of the Opposition N Chandrababu Naidu has underscored the need for conducting the local body polls in a fair and peaceful manner.
However, he demanded that the SEC accept nominations online considering the previous experiences of intimidation and threats and deploy Central forces for election bandobast. He said that village volunteers should not be involved in any aspect of the polling process.
The TDP chief also demanded that the officials, whose removal was recommended by the SCE, should not be deployed for election duty. Also, the ruling YSRC party flag colours on the government buildings should be urgently removed to facilitate a free and fair election. The unanimous elections forcefully made in the past should be revoked and a fresh notification should be released, he demanded.
Addressing party in-charges of parliamentary and assembly segments though a video conference on Saturday, Naidu said that Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has no role to play in the election process and he has no authority to control the SEC as it is an autonomous, constitutional institution. It was unfortunate that the Chief Minister was using his “pawns and puppets” to make statements against the SEC’s decision.
“Jagan has to confine himself to his Tadepalli residence till the election code is lifted. There is no need for anybody to fear the YSRC leaders and surrender to the ruling party’s intimidation. It is high time the police and officials carry out their duties impartially,” the TDP supremo said added that if needed, he will enter the field.
Seeking to know how the Chief Minister could make Aditya Nath Das the Chief Secretary of AP when he was also involved in cases related to Jagan, Naidu said that IAS officer Sri Lakshmi, who was an accused in Jagan’s illegal assets cases, was brought from Telangana to give a posting in AP. Similarly, another accused was posted as a District Collector, he alleged.
Naidu’s demands