A day after the Election Commission of India announced of repolling in five polling booths in Chandragiri Assembly constituency on May 19, the Telugu Desam Party on Thursday accused the EC of taking a decision that was “unethical and unconstitutional.”
In a press release, the party stated that ECI should take steps to restore the confidence on the election body and create a level playing field between BJP-allies and other parties in the country.
Accusing the ECI of bias, TDP Rajya Sabha MP CM Ramesh and national spokesperson K Rama Mohan Rao have alleged that the ECI has taken contradictory stands on similar controversies in two different states, referring a similar row in West Bengal.
Citing the case of West Bengal where State Home Secretary, Atri Bhattacharya, was relieved from the process of conducting the elections after he reported that the Central Armed Forces caused an inconvenience to the voters, the TDP has said that instead of sacking the CEO in Andhra Pradesh where a similar instance had taken place, the EC has ordered repolling.
Earlier this month, Chandragiri MLA belonging to the YSRCP filed a complaint with the Chief Electoral Officer, Gopala Krishna Dwivedi alleging that the TDP resorted to malpractice on the day of polling. He alleged that the TDP denied voters belonging to a particular community from casting their voters. Chandragiri witnessed an intense battle between Bhaskar Reddy and Pulivarthi Nani from TDP.
On Wednesday, the Election Commission, after going through the reports submitted by concerned authorities and taking into account of facts and material circumstances, declared polling in the five booths as null and void. Repolls in these five polling booths under the Chandragiri constituency have now been scheduled for May 19.
Polling to 175-member Assembly and all 25 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state was held in a single phase on April 11. On that day, clashes took place between the TDP and YSRCP supporters. On May 6, repolling was held in five polling booths of Guntur, Prakasam and Nellore districts.