Chandrababu Naidu, Rahul Gandhi in touch through hotline, says Jagan Reddy

Amaravati: Former Chief Minister and YSRCP President Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Wednesday said that Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu was in touch with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi through a ‘hotline’.

Questioning the silence of Rahul Gandhi on the ‘vote chori’ issue raised by YSRCP after last year’s elections, he alleged that Chandrababu Naidu was in touch with Rahul Gandhi through Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy.

“Why didn’t you join us when we raised a similar issue after the 2024 elections, where there was a variation of 12 per cent between the votes polled and counted?” asked Jagan Mohan Reddy at a press conference here.

The former Chief Minister was asked about Rahul Gandhi raising the issue of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

The YSRCP chief also questioned Rahul Gandhi’s silence on what he called the corruption of the TDP-led coalition government. “Congress spokesperson Manickam Tagore criticises only me, as Chandrababu Naidu is in touch with Rahul Gandhi through a hotline, or else how can he show a blind eye to the corruption of the coalition government with the mushrooming of belt shops, permit rooms, and selling liquor at more than MRP,” he asked.

Jagan Mohan Reddy demanded fresh polling for the by-election to Pulivendula and Ontimitta ZPTCs under the supervision of Central forces and in a fair manner, terming the polls held on August 12 a ‘mockery of democracy’.

“What happened at Pulivendula and Ontimitta is the real ‘vote chori’,” he remarked.

He said the elections that were held on Tuesday heckled at the democratic spirit as all YSRCP agents were driven away along with the party sympathisers whose forms and slips were snatched and torn away.

Polling was held on Tuesday for Pulivendula and Ontimitta Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituencies (ZPTCs) in Jagan Mohan Reddy’s Assembly constituency, Pulivendula, in YSR Kadapa district.

He also announced that YSRCP candidates will move the court seeking to cancel the elections.

The YSRCP chief described the election as the most atrocious and undemocratic. “Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has set a very bad precedent which is dangerous to democracy, and the spirit of elections is lost by such nefarious deeds as they were held under the cover and shield of police, and outsiders taking over the booths and resorting to large-scale rigging,” he said.

He alleged that for about 10,600 votes in 15 booths, a posse of 700 police was deployed not to ensure peaceful elections but to terrorise voters, and the jumbling method employed by shifting polling booths was only to threaten voters midway or send them back.

Showing the clippings of identified active TDP workers from Jammalamadugu and other areas participating in voting and locals expressing anguish for not being allowed to vote, he said, even Pulivendula ZPTC candidate was house arrested, and MP YS Avinash Reddy, who was outside the vicinity of the election area, was also arrested.

Jagan Mohan Reddy alleged that the police behaved like TDP agents by allowing the party cadre to roam freely while obstructing genuine voters on the pretext that they were with YSRCP. TDP MLAs and leaders from outside supervised the elections.

The former CM alleged that the police were handpicked for the purpose, and they conducted themselves in a biased manner to please CM Chandrababu Naidu, who has been harassing police officials who do not toe his line by sending them to jail or by not giving them postings.

“This cannot be called an election as polling agents, who play an important role in the election process right from verifying the voters’ list, to identifying the voters, to complaining on fake voters and sealing the ballot boxes, were not allowed, their authorisation forms were snatched and torn,” he said.

“This is a dangerous trend, as the State Election Commission did not consider our complaints on the atrocities, violence, and police bias, and did not respond to our pleas to make public the CCTV footage. We will be moving the court as well,” he said, adding that democracy should be protected.

IANS