TDP chief claims his stance vindicated

Mangalagiri: TDP national president N Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday welcomed the AP High Court stay order on April 1 notification issued by the State Election Commission (SEC) for the ZPTC and MPTC elections in the State.

Naidu hailed the court order as a vindication of the Telugu Desam Party's decision to boycott the elections that were sought to be held in violation of the Supreme Court guidelines. The stalling of the parishad polls by the court was a clear victory for the Ambedkar Constitution.

In a statement here, the TDP chief termed it as a slap in the face for the Jagan Mohan Reddy government which was taking the law into its hands with total disrespect for the constitutional institutions and their heads.

Naidu advised chief minister Jagan Reddy to at least open the eyes and stop imposing the cruel Raja Reddy constitution on the people of the State. The ruling YSRCP should come to its senses and start acting in accordance with the spirit of the Ambedkar Constitution. The SEC should issue a fresh notification to start the ZPTC and MPTC elections from the stage of nominations.

The TDP chief asserted that the chief minister should stop defying the orders and guidelines issued by the courts. Jagan Reddy should respect the autonomy of the constitutional institutions.

The SEC should stop acting like a rubber stamp and start asserting the constitutional autonomy of the election commission. The powers of the commission should not be surrendered to the ruling party, he said.

Naidu pointed out that over a year passed since the first parishad poll notification was given. Quite a large number of young voters were newly enrolled and all of them should be given a chance to vote in the election by issuing a fresh notification. It was high time the SEC conducted a free and fair election. The people should be allowed to vote in a free atmosphere in order to elect leaders who would serve them better. The elections should not be turned into a farce, he said