AP panchayat polls: Special Vigilance wing to probe TD candidate’s suicide

Kakinada: State Election Commissioner Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar has said a special intelligence wing would be set up to track the polling process across the state in view of some recent incidents.

The SEC told the media that a transparent and impartial probe will be held into the death of Sabbella Srinivasa Reddy at Gollalakunta village of Jaggampeta mandal of East Godavari. “Reddy, who had quit the YSRC and joined the Telugu Desam, was tied and kidnapped in the wee hours on Sunday and dropped in the forests. On Sunday, his wife Pushpaveni filed the nomination. Later, he lodged a complaint with Jaggampet police. On Monday evening, he committed suicide by hanging from a tree.”

On Tuesday, Ramesh Kumar visited the house of Srinivasa Reddy and consoled the family members.

He told the media at the Collector’s office, after visiting the village Gollakunta and consoling the family members of Srinivasa Reddy, that he has re-assured the family that a postmortem will be conducted and the cause of the death will be investigated in a transparent manner.

He had spoken to the Superintendent of Police Adnan Nayeem Asmi and the SP accompanied him to the village to give reassurance to the family members. “The SP is still in the village,” the SEC said.

The SEC said the issue should not politicized. A fair and transparent probe should be held into the circumstances that led to the death of Srinivasa Reddy. The guilty will be punished in accordance with the law regardless of their status’.

Referring to the situation vis-à-vis panchayat polls, he said the SEC is not opposed to unanimous elections. But unanimity should not be forced on the villagers. If unanimity emerges at the village level on its own, it’s fine.”

He noted that, in the past, there used to be many unanimous elections at village level. The village elders used to be influential. “Nowadays many people want to contest. This is a healthy trend.”

“It is not correct to say that peace in villages will be disturbed if there are no unanimous elections. There is no evidence to support such a view,” he said.

Citing the example of East Godavari district, the SEC said that in 2006 and 2013, there were hardly six to seven per cent unanimous results there as against the average of 15 to 20 per cent in the state. “Still, East Godavari villages are by and large peaceful even if there are no unanimous elections. Therefore, we should not launch a campaign to support unanimous elections.”

He said that polling percentages in East Godavari in 2006 and 2013 were more than 80. “This is satisfactory but there still is room for improvements.” He complimented the district officials for making proper arrangements and expressed the hope that the panchayat elections will be held smoothly.