YSRCP Chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has accused Andhra Pradesh's election authorities of systemic bias and forgery, alleging that the administration is subverting the democratic process to favor the ruling Telugu Desam Party government.
Jagan Reddy Accuses Electoral Machinery of Partisanship
Tadepalli (Andhra Pradesh) [India], October 23 (ANI): YSRCP President YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Friday launched a blistering attack on the state’s electoral machinery and the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP), accusing election authorities of systemic bias, outright forgery, and subverting the democratic process. Speaking to reporters, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy claimed that the current leadership has a documented history of partisanship favouring Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu. Tracing back to the 2019 general elections, when the current SEC served as Chief Secretary, Reddy alleged that executive defiance of election directives compromised institutional neutrality. "The whole allegation is on the State Election Commission. In 2019, when Chandrababu Naidu was the Chief Minister, this person was the Chief Secretary, and the state held general elections under his administration. At that time, the Chief Election Commissioner had asked the Chief Secretary, who is now the State Election Commissioner, to transfer certain officers away from electoral duties. However, this person went out of his way to help Chandrababu Naidu by reinstating one of the officers who had been removed from his position, the then Intelligence DG, A. B. Venkateswara Rao, back into position. The Chief Election Commissioner was so displeased with him that he removed him from the post of Chief Secretary because he was allegedly displaying a partisan attitude towards the TDP," Reddy told reporters.
Allegations of Fraud and Administrative Interference
ULB Election Irregularities
Shifting focus to the Urban Local Body, Reddy detailed how opposition candidates were allegedly blocked from participating in urban local body (ULB) elections, forcing the party to seek judicial intervention. He alleged the administration was manipulating data and utilising bureaucratic hurdles to bypass Supreme Court directives. YSRCP President said, "When the ULB elections took place, there were 19 locations where these people actually went ahead and did not permit YSRCP candidates to file nominations. So, we went to the Supreme Court and asked the Supreme Court to intervene and permit us to file nominations... Now, what has happened? The Election Commission has permitted only four out of those 19 locations, and even in those four locations, two are only partial. Now, the Election Commission under the Chandrababu Naidu government has once again deteriorated to a level where, in spite of the Supreme Court's verdict, these authorities have used scrutiny as a tool to go further ahead and debar candidates in another four municipalities..."
Claims of Nomination Forgery
Elaborating on the alleged administrative fraud, Reddy claimed that fake nomination entries lacking mandatory statutory paperwork were systematically inflated to mislead the judiciary. "Without A-forms and B-forms, they have randomly shown inflated numbers just to hoodwink the Supreme Court or the High Court, increasing the numbers to suit their convenience. Ultimately, all these people will be rejected because there are no A-forms or B-forms. But they want to hoodwink the courts, both the High Court and the Supreme Court, subvert the electoral process, and go ahead and commit outright forgery," he added.
Accusing the SEC of engineering a fraud on the electoral process, the YSRCP chief pointed to anomalous spikes in nomination filings on official portals to argue that illegal submissions were being logged to manufacture false statistics. He added, "All that YSRCP is asking is: please permit us to file our nominations, and let the people decide whom to vote for... People are filing nominations in the YSRCP name without A-forms and without B-forms, and the SEC on its website reports a 500% to 567% jump in nominations on the first and second days, and a 467% jump in nominations on the second day for MPTCs. Absolutely committing fraud. This is fraud on the electoral process, and a subversion of the electoral process, which is a crime. Ultimately, all these people will be rejected because there are no A-forms and no B-forms. You have gone ahead and actually committed forgery. This is forgery..."
Demand for Transparency and Central Oversight
Demanding parity with security and transparency standards implemented in other states, Reddy questioned why central oversight mechanisms are absent in Andhra Pradesh. "In West Bengal, if you brought in central forces and paramilitary forces to conduct the elections, why are you not permitting and doing the same here? If in West Bengal you went ahead and ensured CCTV footage is present at the nomination centres, the polling centres, and the counting centres, why is it that you do not have such facilities and CCTV availability in our state? Why are the paramilitary forces not in place? Why is the SEC biased? No officer is removed from electoral duty in spite of wrongdoing, and yet you continue with the SEC," YSRCP President YS Jagan Mohan Reddy said. (ANI)
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianetnews Editorial staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)