TDP wants ECI to conduct local polls

Amaravati: Defending State Election Commissioner (SEC) N Ramesh Kumar's letter to the Union home secretary apprehending threat to him and his family, TDP senior leader Yanamala Ramakrishnudu requested the Central government to provide security in view of threat to him and his family. Addressing a press conference at the party office at Atmakur in Mangalagiri on Thursday, Ramakrishnudu asked Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy to look into the contents of the letter which listed the instances of threats and atrocities committed by YSRCP in the first phase of local body elections.

He said there was nothing wrong in the SEC requesting Central security considering the fascist and faction mindset of the YSRCP. The government also has no moral right to demand an investigation into the origin of the SEC letter, he stated.

The TDP leader stressed the need for the Election Commission of India to supervise the AP local bodies elections as there were several instances in the past when ECI conducting local polls in some states like Tripura.

Jagan was frightened at the thought of ECI and CRPF, paramilitary forces just because his party cannot perpetrate election atrocities, he said.

Ramakrishnudu said never before in the history a ruling party could get 75 per cent "unanimous" results in some places and 23 per cent average unanimous victories allover the state, which was possible only for Jagan's party.

TDP state president K Kala Venkata Rao criticised that the YSRCP used threats and intimidation against opposition candidates to win majority local bodies unanimously. The State Election Commissioner should restart the election process, he demanded. He also said that the Central government provide additional security cover to SEC Ramesh Kumar and his family.