Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party leader Chandrababu Naidu met officials of the Election Commission on Friday to protest against its decision to hold re-polling in five booths under the Chandragiri Assembly and Chittoor Lok Sabha constituencies.
In a memorandum, he called the decision “undemocratic,” motivated and partial.
“As we have been pointing out, this constituency witnessed many complaints about the removal of votes based on the pseudonymous complaints of YSR Congress Party activists. There was a conspiracy to remove TDP votes,” he said.
Mr. Naidu alleged that the Election Commission rejected the complaints made by the TDP demanding repolling in other booths on April 12. “It is unprecedented that the ECI has decided to conduct repoll in five stations, that too, after the completion of re-polling in some other polling stations on May 6,” he said. It was “highly objectionable” that the Election Commission, while sitting on the TDP’s complaints, had promptly responded to the YSR Congress Party’s complaints.
Mr. Naidu also accused the Election Commission of bias against all Opposition parties. A case in point was the decision to shorten the campaign in West Bengal by a day. “Earlier too, the ECI allowed [Prime Minister] Narendra Modi to violate the model code of conduct... and sometimes actively cooperated with him to further his ends,” he said. The Election Commission punished BSP leader Mayawati, while clearing Mr. Modi of similar charges.
He also reiterated the demand, made by the TDP and other Opposition parties, that at least 50% of the VVPAT slips be counted to validate the EVM count.
