HYDERABAD: Opposition parties have accused the Telangana State Election Commission (TSEC) of announcing the municipal polls schedule without publishing voters lists or carrying out any exercise regarding reservation of wards. The Congress walked out of the all-party meeting convened by State Election Commissioner V Nagi Reddy, while other parties accused the TSEC of bowing to the TRS government’s diktat on the poll schedule. The Dalit Bahujan Party president Krishna Swaroop was forcibly evicted from the meeting by the police for questioning the TSEC.
Nagi Reddy, who called for an all-party meeting at the TSEC head office on Saturday, lost his cool when various party leaders began hurling allegations. Party representatives said ward-wise photo electoral rolls had not been published. The parties demanded that the TSEC hold elections only after this exercise had been completed. Some political leaders said Nagi Reddy was being excessively rude. Congress members M Shashidhar Reddy and G Niranjan, after boycotting the meeting, said the TSEC was simply following the directions of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao. Sashidhar Reddy alleged that the meeting was mere eyewash as representatives were not allowed to air their grievances.
“The election schedule was announced to suit the needs of the TRS party which the Congress opposes and we are staging a walkout from the meeting,’’ Shashidhar Reddy said.BJP leader G Manohar Reddy said there was no transparency in the TSEC and all poll-related decisions were being taken at the behest of the CM. People had lost faith in the TSEC, he fumed. The ceiling on election expenditure was farcical since TRS leaders were distributing money and liquor already, the BJP leader said.
As it had done in the Gram Panchayat polls, the TRS wanted to conduct municipal polls in similar fashion and win through money and muscle power, he said.TDP leader R Chandrasekhar said that after carrying out the mandatory exercises like ward reservations and publishing electoral rolls, polls should have been conducted in May, 2020. He was also opposed to the idea of polls during Sankranti.
Dalit Bahujan Party president Krishna Swaroop said that he would lodge a complaint against Nagi Reddy under the SC, ST Atrocities Act since he was forcibly evicted from the meeting.‘’Worried that they are going to lose the Urban Local Body polls, frustrated Opposition parties are making baseless accusations against TRS party,” TRS secretary Gattu Ramachandra Rao said.