On the 1st of March, the Andhra Pradesh State Election Commissioner (SEC) conducted an all party meeting, for the upcoming Local Bodies elections in Andhra Pradesh. During the meeting, the SEC Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar lashed out at Varla Ramaiah, a member of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP.)
According to sources, during the all party meeting, Varla Ramaiah was obstructing the proceedings and interrupting even after getting warnings. Later, being impatient with his behavior, Mr. Kumar asked the TDP leader to leave.
However, Varla Ramaiah declined to do so and accused the Andhra Pradesh SEC of not discharging his duties properly.
Mr. Ramaiah said, “There was no seriousness in the all-party meeting and it was conducted in a routine manner. The SEC refused to listen to my complaints that the ruling party leaders were intimidating the TDP workers and assaulting the candidates.”
Leaders like the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) Spokesperson Narayana Murthy, Padmaja Reddy, TDP leader Varla Ramaiah, the Communist Party of India (CPI) R.D. Wilson, Shaik Mastanvali from the Indian National Congress (INC,) Y.V. Rao from Communist Party (Marxist) and other leaders of political parties were present during the meeting.
Concluding the meeting, the SEC urged all parties to consider the appeals of political parties and abide by the electoral code. If any of the political parties violate the law, they have to face strict action.
After the meeting with the SEC, the YSRCP spokesperson Narayana Murthy addressed the media. During the media interaction, Mr. Murthy said, they had told the SEC that rights of the volunteers should not be violated. He said volunteers were acting as a bridge to the Government welfare schemes. He even requested Mr. Ramesh Kumar to not take the mobile phones of volunteers during polling. In addition, he also asked the SEC to control the TDP’s attacks on YSRCP candidates.
Meanwhile, the Municipal elections for 12 municipal corporations and 75 municipalities/nagar panchayats are slated to be held on the 10th of March. Major parties contesting the elections are, the TDP, the YSRCP, the JanaSena Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP.)
The results of the Civic Polls would be announced on the evening of the 14th of March.
Stay tuned for further updates.
