Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy has stated that he will discuss the issue of continuing alliance with the TDP, CPI and TJS with AICC in-charge for the State R. C. Khuntia in the next few days.
Talking to media, after hoisting the party flag at Gandhi Bhavan, the headquarters of the TPCC, on the occasion of 134th foundation day of the party – Indian National Congress – here on Friday, he said the PCC would conduct a review of the party’s defeat in the recent Assembly election in the State in the next two-three days. The process of speaking to the contestants from the party was in progress to identify the reasons, he said.
Stating that there were some doubts over the process of election held in the State, the TPCC chief said when the party was planning to move the court seeking counting of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips, the incidents of the slips finding their way out of the strong rooms was raising suspicion over the role of some Returning Officers. He sought to know under whose “directions” such incidents were taking place.
‘Adding to suspicion’
The incidents of difference in the number of votes polled and the votes counted and the refusal of election authorities to take up counting of VVPAT slips, even in constituencies such as Dharmapuri, Kodad and Ibrahimpatnam, where the margin of victory was less than 1%, was adding to suspicion over the process, Mr. Reddy said.
Declining to comment on the efforts of TRS president and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao to cobble up a federal front, the TPCC chief said they had already submitted a preliminary report to the AICC on the party’s defeat in the Assembly election and its preparedness for the Lok Sabha election.
Selection of candidates for Lok Sabha election would be taken by the AICC, he said, adding that the party would fare better in the coming elections.
