TDP president and former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has accused YCP leaders of resorting to deliberate attacks on the TDP cadres as they were losing confidence of getting victory if the municipal polls were held in a free and fair manner in the state.
Naidu said that the ruling party leaders were issuing threats to the TDP contesting candidates and voters in order to win the civic elections in an unfair manner. TNSF president Pranav Gopal and MLA Velagapudi Ramakrishna Babu visited AU High School polling booth on hearing about rigging. However, the police arrested them without valid reasons.
In a statement here, the TDP chief decried the misuse of the official machinery and the police force in a very indiscriminate manner by the YCP leaders. They were doing this to create a fear psychosis among the rival parties and the candidates. In the 13th division in Machilipatnam, the YCP activists brandished knives and attacked TDP sympathiser Dinakar. It was only out of fear of facing defeat in the polls that the YCP was resorting to such cowardly attacks.
Naidu said that after seeing the blatant election violations, the people were getting doubts whether democracy was still alive in the state. All these election related attacks were being made with direct support from the YCP MLAs and ministers. The ruling party local leaders were crossing all limits and becoming a huge threat to the law-and-order situation.
The TDP chief wanted the police to explain how they could prevent a TDP activist from entering the polling booth in Nayudupeta in Nellore district just because he was wearing the party yellow shirt. At the same time, the police were not taking any action and just watching like silent spectators when the YCP leaders were resorting to the election violations without any fear of the code or the law. Naidu appealed to the State Election Commission to take stringent action against the conniving officials and the erring YCP leaders. It was the duty of the SEC to punish the culprits responsible for the election violations and ensure a democratic polling process.
Earlier, the TDP chief stressed the need for the people to cast their votes for the right candidates in order to give their total support for the development of the state. Only by taking an active part in the election process would the citizens be able to carve out a good future for themselves and for their future generations.