YSRCP urges SEC to curb  lawlessness in ZPTC by-polls

Vijayawada, 11 August: A delegation of YSRCP leaders met the State Election Commission (SEC) in Vijayawada, demanding immediate intervention to halt what they described as “unprecedented subversion of democracy” in the ongoing ZPTC by-elections in Pulivendula and Ontimitta.

The delegation comprised MLCs Lella Appi Reddy, Mondithoka Arun Kumar, Kalpalatha Reddy, former Ministers Perni Venkataramaiah (Nani), Velampalli Srinivas, Jogi Ramesh, former MLAs Malladi Vishnu and Hafeez Khan, Vijayawada Mayor Rayana Bhagyalakshmi, Deputy Mayors Avuthu Shailaja and Narayanamurthy, along with other party leaders.

Speaking to the media after the meeting, the leaders stated that the ruling TDP-led alliance, aided by a compromised official machinery, was resorting to intimidation, mass distribution of cash, and targeted attacks on YSRCP workers to forcibly secure victory in former Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s home constituency of Pulivendula. They accused the police and revenue departments of acting as silent spectators, enabling large-scale electoral malpractice.

Former Minister Perni Venkataramaiah (Nani) detailed how TDP leaders were coercing voters by confiscating voter slips distributed by election authorities and offering Rs. 10,000 per vote. Villagers who resisted were threatened, assaulted, and falsely implicated in criminal cases. “In some villages, police presence is heavy, but those intimidating voters are left untouched. While officials claim to have deployed shadow teams and flying squads, the cash-for-votes network operates openly,” he said. Perni Nani further stated that half of the cash sent by Chandrababu Naidu was being pocketed by local TDP leaders.

The YSRCP delegation demanded that the SEC ensure immediate redistribution of voter lists and slips, initiate public microphone announcements, set up helplines, and act on complaints against intimidation and bribery. They also sought the withdrawal of bind-over cases against YSRCP polling agents and condemned the unprecedented shifting of a polling booth from one village to another, calling it a “mockery of democracy.”

Former Minister Jogi Ramesh charged that Chandrababu Naidu was “murdering democracy” in pursuit of a single ZPTC seat to undermine the morale of YSRCP cadres. He accused the Chief Minister of misleading the SEC, misusing government officers for party campaigning, and replicating the vote-buying strategies deployed in the Nandyal by-election. “Surveys show that if elections were held today, the people would return YSRCP to power. This desperation to claim victory in Pulivendula is only to save his and his MLAs’ political standing,” Ramesh stated.

The leaders demanded that the SEC deploy CCTV cameras inside and outside every polling station and strictly enforce its orders on the ground. They warned that despite the ruling alliance’s misuse of power, the people’s mandate would decisively favour YSRCP wherever free and fair elections were held.

“The alliance government’s conspiracy to kill democracy will ultimately lead to its own political demise,” the YSRCP leaders declared.