Deploy central forces for free & fair AP polls: TDP-JSP chiefs tell CEC

Vijayawada: Telugu Desam Party national president N Chandrababu Naidu and Jana Sena founder Pawan Kalyan on Tuesday urged Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar to deploy adequate central forces and appoint special observers to ensure free and fair elections in Andhra Pradesh.

Expressing apprehensions that the YSRCP government will misuse the official machinery to vitiate the election atmosphere going by its track-record in conducting the local body elections in the past, the TDP-JSP leaders said the Central Election Commission should step in to monitor the elections and uphold democratic values. In a representation to the CEC in Vijayawada during his two-day visit to the State in response to receipt of allegations and counter-allegations on irregularities in the preparation of draft electoral rolls, they said some of the block level officials and municipal commissioners had participated in a political campaign taken up recently under the name of ‘why AP needs Jagan.’

Naidu and Pawan Kalyan, who have decided to contest the elections jointly, said in the representation that the Sachivalayam staff and volunteers, who were appointed during the tenure of YSRCP should be debarred from taking part on election duty. The ruling party leaders including MPs and Ministers have gone on record that 90 per cent of volunteers and Sachivalam staff are supporters of the YSRCP. They feared that as each volunteer is in-charge of 50 households, they wield a lot of influence on their actions.

The Opposition leaders said special police observers should monitor the situation by positioning them at Amaravati after appointing individual observers for each Assembly constituency. They cited how with an intention to manipulate, revenue officials are being reshuffled even before completion of three-year tenure.

Stating that the DEOs and EROs are not following directions of ECI due to political pressure from the ruling party, they sought a level playing field. They also alleged that due to 'horrendous politics and political vendetta' the democratic voice of the Opposition is being suppressed by foisting false cases and pointed out how unanimous elections were ensured in many segments during the local body elections by intimidating the candidates fielded by rival parties.