The number of nominations filed for MPTC posts in the State shows that the election process is being conducted in a transparent process barring stray incidents which the Opposition is harping upon, Municipal Administration Minister Botcha Satyanarayana said here on Thursday.
For the 9,696 MPTCs, 50,063 nominations were filed. Of them, 23,000 were from the YSRCP, while 18,000 are from the TDP, 2,000 from the Jana Sena Party and 1,800 from the BJP, Mr. Satyanarayana said.
“If there were any coercion or high-handedness as alleged by the TDP, how would so many nominations be filed?” Mr. Satyanarayana said at a press conference here.
Asserting that YSRCP was seeking a positive vote on the basis of its performance, the Minister said that no government has fulfilled so many promises in nine months.
“Former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu knew that his party would be wiped out in the local body elections and would not win even 5% of the seats. Having realised this, he is trying to obstruct the election process,” Mr. Satyanarayana alleged.
In several districts, a large number of TDP candidates have filed nominations without any hurdles, Mr. Satyanarayana said, adding that TDP was fomenting trouble ahead of the elections.
Referring to the attack on TDP leaders Bonda Umamaheshwara Rao and Buddha Venkanna in Macherla on Wednesday, the Minister said that whenever political leaders travel to other parts of the State, they should inform the police. “The TDP leaders went without doing so, in a convoy of vehicles. There was an accident involving a physically-challenged man because of which locals got angry,” Mr. Satyanarayana said.
In an incident that occurred in Anantapur on Wednesday, cases were booked against persons owing allegiance to both YSRCP and TDP, and the number of people booked were more from the ruling party, he said. “An Act was passed and an app rolled out to prevent the use of money and liquor during campaigning. Complaints can be lodged through the app,” the Minister said.
“The charges being levelled by the BJP president are baseless. The party has failed to file even 3,000 nominations. JSP chief Pawan Kalyan does not know the difference between reel life and real life,” the Minister added.
