The YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) has lodged a complaint with the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Andhra Pradesh alleging that the TDP and its candidate for the byelection for the Tirupati Lok Sabha constituency, Panabaka Lakshmi, were distributing pamphlets containing an allegation that the ruling party had mortgaged the State’s legitimate right to Special Category Status (SCS), to get some of its leaders acquitted from cases pending on them.
In a letter to the CEO on Sunday, YSRCP General Secretary L. Appi Reddy said the ‘false propaganda unleashed by the TDP leaders at the behest of former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu’ was violative of the Model Code of Conduct and the Representation of People’s Act, 1951.
He said it was a ‘known fact that the TDP and the Congress had foisted cases on Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’ in the past and the same were pending in courts. Before the courts gave their judgements in the said cases, the TDP had been making baseless allegations to derive electoral mileage.
Mr. Appi Reddy further said the YSRCP had not given up its commitment to obtaining the SCS for the State and the party had been fighting hard for it. Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy is tirelessly pursuing the matter with the Central government.
Keeping these in view, the CEO should take appropriate action against the TDP and its candidate and recommend to the Election Commission of India to derecognise the party (TDP) as a punishment for its ‘misconduct’.
