Botcha accuses SEC of crossing Lakshman Rekha

Visakhapatnam: The State Election Commissioner (SEC) should be impartial and not take sides, minister for municipal administration and urban development Botcha Satyanarayana said.

Referring to the letter written by the SEC N Ramesh Kumar to the state Governor, the minister pointed out that the SEC had shown the state government in poor light in the letter. "It is unfortunate that the SEC has chosen to write a letter to the AP Governor. Subsequently, we moved a motion on violation of privileges against the SEC," the minister told the media.

Assuring that the state government is cooperating with the State Election Commission, Satyanarayana said, "The government is cooperating with the SEC for the panchayat elections as required by the Supreme Court. This itself is a proof that the government is behaving in a responsible manner," he reiterated.

Further, the minister said only unanimous elections will ensure self-rule at the grassroot level.

However, he said it is unfortunate that the SEC is 'inciting' the voters in villages and exhorted the people not to get carried away by the SEC's statements. "It is Ramesh who's crossing the Lakshman Rekha," the he added.

He expressed his disappointment that the SEC's move is more towards supporting 'someone'.