YSRCP asks Supreme Court for retired judge-led panel to oversee Andhra local body polls, seeks bar on unopposed wins

The political slugfest in Andhra Pradesh local body elections has taken a new twist with Opposition YSRCP filing an additional application before the Supreme Court seeking appointment of a committee under a retired judge to oversee the on-going poll process and direct State Election Commission not to declare any candidate elected unopposed.

Ahead of a hearing in Supreme Court on the local body elections on Tuesday, the principal Opposition party has submitted fresh documents, videos and photographs before the apex court.

The interlocutory application, reviewed by ET, has been filed “because violence has carried on unabated”. YSRCP has submitted that as a result of the violence 455 candidates were prevented from filing nominations in urban local body elections and 1,680 candidates in ZPTCs and MPTCs. It has also claimed that impersonators were permitted to withdraw 60 nominations filed by YSRCP candidates. “Workers of the ruling party have filed fake nominations purporting to be the candidates fielded by petitioner (YSRCP),” reads the interlocutory application.


YSRCP has now sought appointment of a committee headed by a retired judge of Supreme Court or high court to enquire into the allegations and to oversee the nomination, scrutiny and withdrawal process in the local body elections. It has also sought that no candidate should be elected unopposed till further orders and extension of filing of nominations in all urban local bodies and ZPTCs and MPTCs where candidates have not been permitted to file or impostors have withdrawn nominations or papers have been rejected. It has also sought that CCTV footage of all nomination centres from where there have been complaints be made public.

Even as YSRCP provided fresh documents, TDP sources pointed towards a letter dated March 18, 2020 by then State Election Commissioner N Ramesh Kumar to home secretary complaining against YSRCP-led state government’s conduct during local body elections.

“There is an unprecedented assault on me personally and the State Election Commission ever since postponing elections on 15.03.2020 by no less than the Chief MInister (then Y S Jaganmohan Reddy) who had attacked me in most vitriolic and offending language casting aspersions and prejudice in his press meet on 15.03.2020… I have been receiving repeated warnings and threats non-stop and even my family members are not spared of this ordeal. All this intimation is meant to demoralize me and to force me to revisit the postponed elections for their solve political advancement,” Kumar had written.

In the present controversy, YSRCP had filed an applicatyion and had got relief from court. The State Election Commission had ordered extension of date of nominations in 4 of 19 municipalities. Now in the interlocutory application, YSRCP has also pointed out that during a press conference Andhra Pradesh chief minister had said YSRCP was getting the taste of its own medicine.

Providing the exact translation, the application says, “You are all human being – I’m telling the common man too – we are all human; everyone eats salt and spice (i.e. everyone has the same basic needs). Last time (Note: When YSRCP was in power), in that village, they would beat these people up – they beat the Telugu Desam men when they came to file the nomination. Now those very same people, the YSR Congress brought in their own car, in their own jeep and had them file the nomination. Won’t it burn their hearts? Can they bear it? But in a democracy, these things are unavoidable. And even then, we are reaching a situation where they go to court claiming injustice was done, and at that moment spread fake news to mislead people. People need to understand this.”