Tirupati: BJP to complain to SEC against ward volunteers

Tirupati: BJP will complain to the State Election Commissioner (SEC) against the ward volunteers playing in the hands of YSRCP leaders threatening voters in the recent village panchayat and municipal elections, said BJP State president Somu Veerraju.

Speaking to the media here on Sunday, the State BJP chief said that it was the volunteers who played a crucial role in influencing the voters in favour of the ruling YSRCP in the recent election and alleged that the volunteers bluntly told the voters in their area that they may lose the benefits of welfare schemes they are enjoying if they vote for Opposition that saw the voters either voting to the ruling party or refraining from exercising their franchise even if they wanted to vote to the Opposition to avoid the wrath of ruling leaders.

The volunteer system on which the government is spending annually about 16,550 crore including staff of ward secretariat acclaimed as the best for taking the government nearer to people but in reality it turned a tool for the ruling party to see the people to toe its line, he said adding that the party is collecting details of volunteers who helped the YSRCP in the election for submitting to SEC for taking action.

On the party candidate for the Tirupati Lok Sabha by-election, he said the party high command would soon declare the candidate to contest.

He said former Minister Adinarayana Reddy will be the Parliament constituency in-charge for the election while seven senior leaders were also appointed as in-charges for each of the seven Assembly segments in the constituency for spearheading the party campaign in the by-election.

Except the two national parties BJP and Congress, the other parties including YSRCP, TDP, CPM and RPI announced their candidates for the election.

RPI AP and Telangana convener Peram Nageswar Goud said that M Chakravarthy will be the candidate for Tirupati LS by-election.

Speaking to the media here, Goud said the party was contesting the by-election to expose YSRCP's many of anti-Dalit decisions including denying SC, ST sub-plan funds. Party candidate Chakravarthy also spoke.