TD breaks tradition of GP elections; YSRC up-in-arms over violation of Constitution
TD leaders claim that here is nothing wrong in the releasing the election manifesto for Gram Panchayat polls
VIJAYAWADA: For the first time in the history of Gram Panchayat elections that would be contested on a non-party basis, the release of an election manifesto by Opposition Telugu Desam is creating a flutter in Andhra Pradesh.
Ruling YSR Congress is up-in-arms against the TD action and has demanded that the State Election Commission take action against TD chief Chandrababu Naidu. The TD’s action has taken politics to a “new low,” the YSRC complained. “Naidu could have released manifesto for ZPTC and MPTC elections and not the Gram Panchayat polls,” the YSRC said and lodged a formal complaint with the SEC.
TD leaders claim that even national parties extend their support to those contesting the gram panchayat elections though these are admittedly non-party polls. “Hence, there is nothing wrong in the releasing the election manifesto.”
While Naidu was silent during the ZPTC and MPTC elections in March this year, he released the party manifesto 'Palle Pragathi - Pancha Sutralu' (Village Growth - Five Plans) for the panchayat polls 2021 and gave a call for all panchayats to elect his party-supported candidates for achieving the goal of better and cleaner villages.
Naidu said the YSRC's argument that these were partyless elections was wrong. Political influence would be there in every aspect of life. The panchayat elections would be indirect in nature but the candidates would be getting support from one party or another.
YSRC official spokesperson and MLA Ambati Rambabu said Naidu wants to turn non-party elections into party elections. “We want to know what action will the SEC take against Chandrababu for releasing the manifesto?”
He said Naidu released the election manifesto with photos of himself and his son. This is totally against the Constitution which clearly stated there should not be political interference in panchayat elections. “There would be no party symbol or flag in panchayat elections. “The YSRC is not asking people to votes for Fan symbol and our MLAs would not conduct any campaign for panchayat elections,” he said and sought action against Naidu for releasing the manifesto.
Minister Peddireddi Ramachandra Reddy and other leaders stated that the TD election manifesto is about various schemes and it is requesting the voters to vote for the TD-sponsored candidates. “This is against the Model Code of Conduct (MCC),” they said and sought an immediate action against TD by the SEC.