YSRC welcomes HC verdict on Parishad polls, criticises Naidu for 'killing' democracy
VIJAYAWADA: The YSR Congress has welcomed the verdict of the AP High Court bench in the MPTC and ZPTC (Parishad) election case and accused the Telugu Desam of putting spokes in the state government’s wheel.
Adviser to government on public affairs, Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy, addressing a press meet here on Thursday, alleged that former chief minister Chandrababu Naidu killed the democratic spirit in the Parishad elections. He caused multiple hurdles and the Telugu Desam encouraged the then state election commissioner Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar to disrupt the election process.
The adviser said the high court verdict has given a respite to the stalled Parishad polls. The Opposition parties have conspired to obstruct democracy and subvert the people’s mandate, he said.
Reddy said the ZPTC and MPTC polls were to be held between 2018 and 19, but Naidu as CM had postponed the elections fearing a defeat to the TD. However, Chief Minister Jagan initiated the polls process soon after forming the government in 2019. But, again, it was postponed on the issue of reservations, followed by the "opposition’s conspiracy."
Recalling the earlier incidents, Ramakrishna Reddy said he was outraged that the elections were unilaterally postponed by the former SEC Nimmagadda Ramesh in March 2020 citing Covid19. This was done at a time when there were only six days left to complete the polling. Each time when the government was ready to hold the polls, an attempt was made by the TD to obstruct it as they knew “they cannot win.”
He said that TD made such moves with tacit support from Ramesh. It brought the sarpanch elections in the forefront and kept aside the parishad polls and further tried to obstruct the unanimous elections.
The adviser expressed confidence that the YSRC will win any election with 80-85 per cent positive vote, as “the people are on our side since they are happy with the good governance of Jagan.”
On TD leader Nara Lokesh for burning the Disha copies, the adviser said he had no concern towards women safety.
Ramakrishna Reddy said the Solar Energy Corporation has lauded the state government’s proposal for establishing a solar power project to supply free electricity to farmers. The opposition approached the court to stall this project too. However, many are appreciating the state’s efforts to cut down the power cost, he said.
