Andhra Pradesh State Election Commissioner (SEC) N Ramesh Kumar has denied writing a letter to the Union Home Secretary seeking protection from an imminent threat from the YSRCP government.
“I haven’t written the letter to Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla which is being circulated in a section of the media,” Ramesh Kumar reportedly told ANI.
Copies of a letter from Ramesh Kumar, addressed to the Union Home Secretary, seeking protection from central forces citing imminent threat to himself and his family in the state had surfaced in the media. However, the authenticity of the letter was soon called into question.
Making several allegations against the ruling YSRCP in the context of the postponed local body elections in the state, the letter said, “There are real apprehensions of physical threats, attacks directed against me and family members. Looking at the intolerant face of the top leadership of the present dispensation and their faction ridden background and known vindictive nature, I have come to the painful conclusion that my safety and my family’s safety is in great peril (sic).”
The letter appeals to the Government of India and the Home Ministry to provide security cover “through appropriate Central Police Force commensurate with the current risk perceptions,” for the duration that the YSRCP government is in power, “with the vast reach of resources and criminal gangs ready to their bidding.”
Background
The YSRCP and Ramesh Kumar have been involved in a bitter row for the past few days, ever since the SEC on Sunday announced the postponement of the local body election process in the state by six weeks. The SEC stated that holding the polls would pose a risk to public health in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, he also spoke about the various allegations made by the main opposition parties in the state – the TDP, BJP and Jana Sena Party – regarding various incidents of violence related to the polls.
The opposition parties had alleged that YSRCP workers had attacked their candidates in various places across the state and stopped them from filing nominations in the initial stage of the election process. The SEC, while announcing the postponement of the elections, had also recommended the transfer of District Collectors, Superintendents of Police (SPs) and a few other police officers in places like Guntur and Chittoor, stating that they had failed to stop these incidents of violence.
Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy took strong objection to the SEC’s decision to postpone the elections, alleging that he had done so on the behest of Leader of Opposition and TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu. Jagan alleged that the TDP was worried about losing face as the YSRCP was about to sweep to victory in the local body polls. He also alleged that Ramesh Kumar was following Naidu’s instructions as Naidu had a hand in Ramesh Kumar’s appointment as SEC, as they both belonged to the same community. The CM also took objection to the fact that the SEC wanted the election Model Code of Conduct (MCC) to stay in place through the six week period for which the election process had been postponed.
A day before postponing the elections, the SEC had also directed the state government to halt its flagship ‘Pedalandariki Illu’ (housing for the poor) programme, where the government had planned to distribute house site ‘pattas’ to around 25 lakh beneficiaries on March 25, on the occasion of the Telugu New Year’s Day (Ugadi).
The state government even moved the Supreme Court over the SEC’s decision, with the SC on Wednesday upholding the postponement of elections while directing the SEC to partly relax the MCC until a month before the new polling dates.
Contents of the letter
The letter states that despite the SEC seeking assurance from various district and state government officials to act against any poll-related violence, the first stage of the election process itself “witnessed unprecedented violence and intimidation by the ruling party with the active connivance of Police personnel, as alleged by all the opposition parties ...”
Claiming that there was an ‘unprecedented spike’ in unanimous victories in ZPTC (Zilla Parishad Territorial Territorial Constituency (ZPTC) and MPTC (Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituency) polls, particularly in Jagan’s district of Kadapa.
The letter goes on to allege that Jagan had warned state Ministers and MLAs that they would lose their berths and denied seats in the next elections, if the party performed poorly in the local body polls. “This had spurred the Ministers, MLAS and party cadres into frenzy and indulge in large scale violence and intimidation indulged with impunity and widely captured both in electronic and print media leaving the citizens aghast!” the letter said.
It also said, “The entreaties to Collectors and SPs had been futile despite the constant exhortion and persuasion to mend the situation. The daily situation reports from these functionaries were completely distorted and whitewashed oblivions of ground level realities.”
It also alleged that in some cases the ruling party had ‘planted’ liquor in the possession of candidates from the opposition parties and led the police to arrest them.
“The political parties were apprehensive to campaign and the public at large are in the grip of psychological terror due to acts of violence encompassing the election at every stage highlighting of its unprecedented menace. The actual polling percentages would definitely have hit the abysmal rock bottom. The upper and elite groups are in no mood to congregate at the polling booths given the present fears of “Corona” virus,” the letter said.
The letter says that since the postponement of elections was announced on March 15, there has been unprecedented assault on the SEC, with the CM ‘attacking’ him “in most vitriolic and offending language casting aspersions and prejudice” while addressing the media on March 15.
“Taking a cue from him, it has become the daily chore of the Cabinet Ministers including the Speaker of Assembly to heap choicest abuses and attributing malafides to me. The party leaders down the line, i.e., MLAS and other cohorts are mauthing most unbecoming, uncouth utterances against me,” the letter said, adding that the SEC has been receiving “repeated warnings and threats non stop and even my family members are not spared of this ordeal. All this intimidation is meant to demoralize me and to force me to revisit the postponed elections for their sole political advancement!” the letter says.
YSRCP response
The YSRCP has responded by saying that a probe will be sought into the origins of the letter, alleging that the TDP might have had a hand in it.
YSRCP leaders said that the SEC has been showing “political colours” in its conduct and the tone of the letter seems to be written from the oppositions’ point of view. They also said that the silence of the Election Commissioner and the “hyperactive zeal of TDP friendly media” shows the political nexus between the TDP and the SEC.