YSRCP making mockery of panchayat elections: TDP

Mangalagiri: Former Minister and senior TDP leader Nakka Ananda Babu on Sunday asserted that their party scored more seats than the ruling YSRCP in the early trends in the panchayat elections announced by the authorities all over the State.

Ananda Babu said that the TDP supported candidates won in 27 seats as against just 10 of YSRCP when the results came in at 6.20 pm. The TDP was leading in many villages but the ruling party was stopping the announcement of results even where the Opposition was winning by 1,000 votes in some places.

Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters here, the TDP leader said that just like in the first three phases of elections, the ruling YSRCP leaders were starting their 'night time gimmicks and trickery' to manipulate the election results after 8 pm. The ruling party goondas and miscreants were entering the counting centres and threatening the Opposition candidates and agents. They were forcing the withholding of the results till after midnight in order to declare it as the YSRCP candidates' win illegally.

Ananda Babu said that the YSRCP leaders were perpetrating their extreme counting violations in the name of recounting. Normally, the officials should allow recounting only if the difference was less. But, the YSRCP rowdies were forcing the authorities to start recounting even if the TDP candidates won the election by more than 200 to 300 votes. This would be totally unacceptable and in violation of the election rules.

The TDP leader wondered why Government Advisor Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy and Ministers were taking part in celebrations at their office even though their party got less number of seats than the TDP in the early trends.

The YSRCP leaders were deliberately causing delay in the counting process which began at 4 pm only with an ulterior motive to carry out midnight gimmicks. They were making a mockery of the panchayat elections and undermining the constitution at every step.

Ananda Babu said that the TDP cadres stood up and fought against the ruling party goondas with courage and self-confidence. The TDP would go ahead with the same confidence to defeat the YSRCP candidates in the coming elections to the ZPTCs and MPTCs and the municipal bodies.