Jagan regrets YSRCP’s backing of 2023 Election Commissioner appointment law

Amid protests against the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and YSR Congress Party chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Sunday, October 18, said he regretted supporting a law introduced by the BJP-led Union government that changed the process for appointing Election Commissioners.

Jagan made the remarks while accusing the State Election Commission of bias during nominations for local body elections in Andhra Pradesh, where political violence between the YSRCP and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has intensified.

Jagan said that the appointments of Election Commissioners should be “neutral.”

"Both the State Election Commissioners and the Chief Election Commissioners should not be nominated by the ruling parties. In the past we have supported the Union government’s mechanism to make appointments by the ruling party. But we regret it today. We regret committing that mistake. Because an examiner cannot be appointed by a student," he said.

YSRCP had backed the 2023 Bill in Parliament, where the President appoints the Election Commissioners based on the recommendation of a committee chaired by the Prime Minister and comprising the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and a Union Cabinet minister nominated by the Prime Minister.

Seeking reforms in the nomination process, Jagan said, "Earlier, the selection committee included the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and the Chief Justice of India. The current arrangement gives two votes to the ruling side and one to the Opposition. The Chief Justice is no longer part of the committee. This is a flaw in the system.”

Similarly, the State Election Commissioners also need to be appointed through a neutral process involving the Chief Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and, possibly, the Chief Justice of the High Court. “Such reforms are necessary to restore public confidence in elections,” he said. 

Speaking about the attacks against YSRCP candidates, the Leader of the Opposition said that the ruling party is creating obstacles in the nomination process by denying the candidates caste certificates, no-objection certificates and other documents.

Accusing the TDP of using state machinery to win the election through unfair means, Jagan said that the police are summoning the candidates under the guise of “bind-over” proceedings and threatening to file false cases against them.

He said that CM Chandrababu Naidu is writing a “Narasura blood-soaked history” by resorting to state-sponsored violence in local body elections on an unprecedented level. 

Accusing the CM of running a mafia-style administration, Jagan said: “He has built a syndicate among some officials—a network running from a DIG to DSPs and Circle Inspectors, working with MLAs. They control everything from sand mining to liquor and decide how much each person gets. The same officers are being retained during the elections, even though rules require transfers after two years. This is how a mafia-like system is being run in the state.”

Faulting the police inaction against the ruling party members, Jagan alleged that hundreds of TDP workers have gathered near nomination centres carrying weapons, but the police have not taken any action. “Candidates are permitted to enter with only four people accompanying them. Yet hundreds, even thousands, of TDP workers allegedly gather at the centres with weapons, while YSRCP candidates who follow the rules are stopped. When our candidates reach the centres, they are attacked and their nomination papers snatched away in front of the police. The police do not intervene; they assist the attackers. TDP workers have even entered returning officers’ rooms and taken papers from officials, while the police stood by,” he alleged.

“If returning officers refuse to accept nominations and the police guard the people responsible, if the State Election Commission does not respond, and if the DGP and Home Secretary remain silent, what does that say about the state of the Constitution here?”

On the first day of nominations, YSRCP MP Midhun Reddy convoy was attacked allegedly by the TDP members in Punganur. Jagan alleged that the Returning Officer refused to accept the nominations even after Midhun Reddy and the candidates waited for three hours.

Jagan alleged that in Pulivendula, the stronghold of YSRCP, police themselves acted like TDP goons. “Although YSRCP MP YS Avinash Reddy had alerted senior police officials to the situation, candidates who went to file nominations were stopped. Police allegedly used lathis and fired multiple rounds from AK-47 rifles.”

He said that Chandrababu Naidu was doing this because he did not believe he could win a free and fair election. “A government should seek people’s votes by serving them, not by frightening them or deceiving them,” he said.