‘Democracy under threat’: Ex- CM Jagan Accuses Chandrababu Govt of Defying SC, Rigging Local Body Nominations

Tadepalli: Former Chief Minister and YSRCP President YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Friday lambasted the coalition government for its indifference towards Supreme Court directives and for continuing to mock democracy in the local body elections. He demanded the appointment of an amicus curiae to supervise the polls, deployment of central forces, and CCTV coverage of the entire election process.

Speaking to the media here, Jagan said the Chandrababu Naidu government was not honouring the apex court’s directives and was allowing anarchy in the local body elections. He alleged continuing attacks on YSRCP candidates, snatching of ballot papers, police taking sides, and a threat to the basic structure of democracy that was drawing the state towards a constitutional crisis.

The script in ZPTC and MPTC nominations was no different, he said. YSRCP candidates, including women, were attacked and threatened, and nomination papers were snatched and torn. He released a book titled Pachamookala Dadulu (Attacks by Yellow Mobs), a compilation of pictorial evidence of the attacks. The QR code of the book would be made available to all those who wanted to safeguard democracy, and a copy would also be submitted to the courts.

“We have been reporting all incidents to the concerned officials and will also move the courts as democracy is at stake amid the prevailing anarchy,” Jagan said. He accused the TDP of rigging nominations by filing papers on behalf of the YSRCP to inflate numbers and mislead the courts. They had also forged signatures of YSRCP candidates and announced the withdrawal of nominations, he alleged.

In the prevailing anarchy, with democracy being consistently mocked, the court should order the appointment of an amicus curiae to supervise the elections, deployment of central forces, video recording of the election process, and protection to all contesting candidates, he demanded.

“When the elections are being held on a party basis and when we have released the list of our party candidates, where is the necessity for not allowing anyone to file nomination papers?” he asked. He accused the State Election Commission of undermining Supreme Court directives and cherry-picking a few centres for re-nominations. “We complained that nominations were obstructed in 19 municipalities, but the SEC has considered only a handful of wards in Tirupati, Kadapa, Rajampeta and Mydukur. In Tirupati, the SEC permitted renomination in only 18 wards; in Kadapa, only 11 of the total 66 wards; and in Rajampet, only 11 wards,” he said.

The government was playing all kinds of tricks to keep the opposition out of the fray by rejecting nominations during scrutiny and resorting to various malpractices, he charged. He lauded the efforts of party cadre who stood against the tide to save democracy and warned that in the coming days, all erring officials would have to face the consequences.

Listing out the attacks, Jagan said MP YS Avinash Reddy was arrested from the party office in Kadapa, while former Deputy Chief Minister Narayana Swamy was attacked in Chittoor. Attacks on ZPTC and MPTC candidates were reported from Gorantla, Dharmavaram, V. Kota, Chittoor, GD Nellore, Tadimarri, Kanigiri, Dachepalli, Punganur, Jammalamadugu and other places. Nominations were also manipulated at several locations.

“We have reported the bias of officials to the SEC, but no action was taken. This shows that Chandrababu is pulling the strings as he is afraid of the results, having failed to fulfil his poll promises,” Jagan said.

He recalled that the YSRCP had conducted local body elections despite the adverse conditions of Covid and a hostile SEC, and the people had given the party a decisive mandate because of its welfare programmes and effective outreach.