Election Commission defends retaining Shobha Nagi Reddy name in ballot

Hyderabad: The Election Commission of India on Tuesday defended its action of not deleting Shobha Nagi Reddy’s name from the ballot paper in the elections to Allagadda Assembly constituency before the Hyderabad High Court, stating that deleting the name of a deceased candidate of an unrecognised political party from the list of contesting candidates could encourage attempts at eliminating such candidates in order to win or alter the result of an election.

In a counter affidavit submitted before the court, the EC said Section 52 of the Representation of People Act has no provision for deferring the election or substitution of a candidate by an unrecognised party after publication of the list of contesting candidates. YSR Congress candidate Shobha Nagi Reddy died in a road accident on April 24 and was declared a winner posthumously in the elections held on May 7.

The Commission filed the affidavit pursuant to the direction of the court in a petition by B. Harshavar-dhan Reddy and J. Vinod Kumar Reddy of Kurnool who moved the court prior to the polls in May this year, seeking deletion of her name from the ballot paper. While citing a judgment of the Apex Court which ruled that the name of a deceased independent candidate or a candidate of an unrecognised political party had to remain in the ballot along with names of all contesting candidates, the Election Commission urged the court to dismiss the plea.

Meanwhile, another petition by YSR Congress was filed in the court challenging the action of the EC in not conducting byelection to Allagadda Assembly segment. A Division Bench comprising Justice K.C. Bhanu and Justice Anis was hearing the plea adjourned both the pleas for 10 days.