Sajjala says SEC working with mala fide intentions

Vijayawada: State government adviser on public affairs Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy alleged on Tuesday that election commissioner Ramesh Kumar was working with mala fide intentions vis-à-vis the coming panchayat polls. “It is proven that the SEC is biased towards the opposition Telugu Desam,” he said.

Speaking to the media here, the government adviser criticised the SEC for failing to visit Nimmada or inquire into the incident wherein TD state president K. Atchannaidu allegedly threatened a sarpanch candidate over filing of nomination papers for the panchayat poll in Srikakulam district.

he said no election could be held at Nimmada gram panchayat for a decade. Seven persons who either filed their nominations or questioned the local bigwigs were brutally murdered in recent years there. He asked TD chief Chandrababu Naidu to explain why such a situation existed in Nimmada for so long.

Referring to the visit of the election commissioner to a distressed family in East Godavari and suspension of local cops for the incident, the adviser asked him why he failed to respond on the same lines at Nimmada. “When even a close relative of TD president K. Atchannaidu came forward to file nomination at Nimmada, he was threatened and attacked by TD leaders,” the adviser said.

“This was not an isolated incident. This depicted the ruthlessness of the TDP,” he said.

On the state election commission’s move to adopt a new software application to report irregularities in the gram panchayat polls, the government adviser said the commission refused to use the Nigha designed by the state government. “The new app developed by a private firm is not transparent and is equipped with security firewalls. We had suggested to the commission to use state-owned app or C-Vigil, being used by the Central Election Commission, developed by the NIC,” he said.

The government adviser reiterated that as per the poll guidelines, the SEC must use government services for the smooth conduct of the polls but he instead was declining use of state services.

He said Chandrababu Naidu shifted his agenda from temples to statues of Ambedkar and Vangaveeti Ranga to fan unrest in the state on the lines of desecration of idols in temples in the state. He urged the people to stay away from such incidents and help the state maintain peace.

Referring to the attack on a TD leader in Vijayawada and Naidu criticising the chief minister, the adviser said they were not knowing who attacked him and the reason for it, and made it clear that there was no reason why the CM should be blamed on this issue.