EC urged to act against parties trying to ‘influence’ voters

Ongole: The joint secretary of Citizens for Democracy, Vallamreddy Lakshmana Reddy, observed that the political parties are luring the voters in various methods and influencing them. He demanded that the Election Commission respond to the deceptive methods being adopted by the parties and reinstate people’s belief in democracy.

Lakshmana Reddy participated as a speaker in the ‘Voteddam Prajaswamyanni Balopetam Cheddam’ Kalajata at Ranga Bhavan in Ongole on Monday. He alleged that the ruling party in the State is using the volunteers by giving them various incentives to influence the voters and vote for its candidates.

If the situation continues, he feared that duplicate voters could surface everywhere similar to what has happened earlier in Tirupati by-election. He demanded the EC to initiate action against the Chief Minister and the Revenue Minister for neglecting the orders to not use volunteers in the election process.

Lakshmana Reddy advised the voters to protect their votes thus eradicating the fake voters’ involvement in the election. He asked them to vote for the leaders who strive for good governance and development, but not for those who are corrupt and involved in land, sand, liquor, and mining mafia. He told them to defeat the people who resort to verbal abuse and encourage betting, rummy, etc.

The coordinator of Ennikala Nigha Vedika, Maguluri Nageswara Rao, opined that the development of the State is possible only when the voter does not get lured by the leaders. He said that eligible people who didn’t have the vote can get their names enrolled in voters’ list before the Election Commission issues the notification for general elections. He asked the students to become ambassadors and spread awareness among voters to increase poll percentage.

Acharya NG Ranga Kisan Samstha president, Alla Venkateswara Rao, Ongole town development organisation president Kolla Madhu, retired additional SP Sunkara Saibabu, Rangam Praja Samskritika Vedika secretary R Rajesh, Nukathoti Sarath and others also participated in the programme.