Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh) [India], October 18 (ANI): YSRCP president and former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Sunday alleged that party candidates were being prevented from filing their nominations and demanded the deployment of central forces and CCTV coverage throughout the election process.
After meeting the State Election Commissioner (SEC) Anil Chandra Punetha in Vijayawada, Jagan said he apprised the poll official of the situation in the state, alleging that candidates were not being allowed to file their nominations.
Speaking to the media at the SEC Office here on Sunday, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy said that he explained the situation to him and got an assurance that anyone willing to file a nomination will be given a chance.
"We have lodged a complaint showing evidence of how YSRCP candidates were not allowed to file nominations and will also meet the Governor later in the day,” he said.
“There cannot be free and fair polls in this dispensation”, he added.
Meanwhile, Reddy alleged that irregularities, intimidation and attacks on opposition candidates had occurred during the nomination process. He also questioned whether the State Election Commission was taking adequate steps to ensure free and fair elections in the state.
Reddy also alleged that preventing candidates from filing nominations would make the State Election Commission (SEC) party to what he described as an undemocratic practice.
“The SEC becoming a part of the undemocratic practice of stopping nominations would be recorded for the first time in history. The SEC should not be a part of it,” he said.
Reddy urged the State Election Commission to ensure that all people seeking to file nominations were allowed to do so. He also requested that police escort candidates to nomination centres and ensure that their nomination papers were accepted. (ANI)
Jagan Reddy alleges YSRCP candidates barred from filing nominations, seeks deployment of central forces
