Cong trying to rig by-polls, voters names missing, YSR Cong

 The Ysr Congress Party on Friday alleged that the ruling Congress party was trying to engineer rigging in the by-elections for the Kadapa Lok Sabha and Pulivendula Assembly constituencies.

Making a representation to Chief Electoral Officer Bhanwar Lal at his chambers in the Secretariat, a party delegation said that the efforts to rig the by-elections started soon after the campaign started, with Kamalapuram MLA Veerasiava Reddy terrorizing the villagers who were YSR Congress sympathizers.

YSR Congress leaders said that voters’ names were also missing in the lists belonging to Christian Colony, Nagarikunta, SBI Colony, under the Pulivendula Assembly constituency, despite all the voters there possessing photo identity cards issued by the government.

The ruling party was said to be resorting to such practices in the constituency under the cover of official machinery, alleged the YSR Congress leaders.

They complained to Mr Bhanwar Lal that Congress was adopting malpractices in order to reduce the majority of their rival candidate in the ensuing election.

The CEO was urged to address the problem urgently to take care of the voters whose name were missing in the lists.

Mr Bhanwar Lal was also asked to take steps to deploy additional Central forces in the district to ensure free and fair polling on May 8.

The CEO was also informed that Eenadu daily published a news item along with an objectionable photograph today.

A cartoon depicting YS Jaganmohan Reddy as an anti-social element was disturbing his supporters, they claimed.

This way, the said newspaper had been trying to portray a negative picture of Mr Jaganmohan Reddy with an intention to malign his image among the voters.

“This is nothing but gross misuse of freedom of press as a result of which the entire media would be shown in poor light,” the leaders said.

Condemning such blatant acts, the CEO was urged to take stern action against the newspaper management.

Eenadu’s news channel ETV also was telecasting similar news which was intended to damage the image of the YSR Congress leader while supporting the TDP candidate Dr M V Mysoora Reddy.

They told media persons later that this sort of telecast was violation of Election Code. The video clippings were submitted to Mr Bhanwar Lal for initiating action against the management of the channel by including the telecast expenditure to the TDP candidate’s account.

It is a clear case of 'paid news', it was alleged. They also expressed their apprehensions that the polling would be unfair due to character 'assassination' and rigging among others. In a democracy such acts deserve to be condemned and deplored, they said.