MLC polls: Atchanna alleges irregularities

Vijayawada: TDP Andhra Pradesh unit president Kinjerapu Atchannaidu on Monday alleged several irregularities in holding the ongoing elections to the Legislative Council.

In a letter addressed to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Atchannaidu felt that the polls are being conducted under the directions of the state government. It is really pathetic that the state government with the close cooperation from the police and the officials declaring the polls as unanimous without following either the Election Commission of India guidelines or the court orders, he said in the letter.

Pointing out that the polls held in 2021 for the local bodies constituencies were declared unanimous by the state government by kidnapping the contesting candidates with the help of the police and the officials, the TDP state unit president said that it is against the Constitutional provisions that the elections are held now again in the same fashion. In the elections being held now, some returning officers have rejected the nominations of some candidates against the norms, he alleged in the letter.

What is highly condemnable is that in Kurnool district, four persons who proposed the name of an Independent candidate were kidnapped by the police at midnight and literally subjected them to torture to admit that the signatures are not of theirs, Atchannaidu said.

Basing on these statements the nomination was rejected, he said and stated that there are photos wherein the proposers are signing the relevant papers. Similar incidents were reported from Chittoor, Nellore and East Godavari too, he said. Observing that rejecting the nominations in such a manner is against the norms of the Election Commission, Atchannaidu said that the officials and the police are turning the whole election process a farce.