Making an appeal to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to depute special observers for overseeing the arrangements for the ongoing election in the State, TDP general secretary and politburo member, Varla Ramaiah, on Saturday requested the poll panel to obtain independent reports from them.
In a letter addressed to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO, with copy to the district Collector who is the District Election Officer, Ramaiah said that it is really disturbing that during this crucial time of elections instead of the ECI it is the ruling YSRCP that is running the police administration in the State, for its electoral prospects, targeting the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partners. The Vijayawada Police Commissioner is using the police machinery to harass the political opponents of the YSRCP, the TDP politburo member mentioned in the letter.
The Police Commissioner is making every attempt to illegally arrest the TDP candidate from Vijayawada (Central) Assembly segment, Bonda Umamaheswara Rao, implicating him in false cases, Ramaiah said. Mentioning about the incident that took place on April 13, Ramaiah said that Chief Minister, Jagan Mohan Reddy, participated in a road show on that day in the busy streets of Vijayawada city violating the Model Code of Conduct putting the citizens to great hardship.
At teh fag-end of this programme, at a pre-destined junction the power supply was disconnected and the security personnel were asked to sit down. Then a small stone was hurled at the Chief Minister causing a small injury as certified by the doctors, Ramaiah said in the letter.
Under this pretext, the Vijayawada police unveiled a reign of terror in the surrounding areas where the incident took place and initially five persons, including four minors, belonging to Singh Nagar area of the city were taken into custody and they were subjected to torture, he said. After four days, a daily-labourer was produced before the court and he was remanded in custody.
However, the family members of this daily-labourer admitted before the media that the YSRCP leaders have promised to pay them Rs 300 each and the case diary besides the remand report clearly mentioned this, Ramaiah pointed out in the letter. The BC Cell secretary of Vijayawada (Central) segment, Vemula Durga Rao, and 20 women from the surrounding area too was taken into custody but none of them is produced before the court though it is almost a week since they were arrested, the TDP politburo member said.
Suspecting that they have been taken into custody to record a statement through torture and coercion only to implicate Bonda Umamaheswara Rao and finally arrest him, the TDP national general secretary expressed concern that there is no rule of law in Vijayawada. The entire scheme is to improve the prospects of the YSRCP candidate from the segment, Vellampalli Srinivasa Rao, he added.
Efforts are being made to brand Umamaheswara Rao as the conspirator of this whole incident and in a pre-planned manner the police have invoked Section 307 in the FIR, he said. While the medical report clearly mentioned that it is a small injury and the circumstantial evidence too is against this ‘attempt to murder’, Ramaiah said.
Maintaining that in the past five years, the ruling YSRCP has mastered the art of using the police machinery to harass its political opponents, Ramaiah said that almost all the TDP leaders at all levels were arrested and scores of false cases were foisted against them. Stating that the immediate intervention of the poll panel is sine-qua-non for ensuring free and fair election, the TDP politburo member felt that the whole poll process will become a farce if the candidates of opposition parties are hounded by police subjecting them to custodial torture.
Thus, the ECI should obtain independent reports by deputing special election and police observers to the State or select a special election team with officers from outside Andhra Pradesh, he said. He also wanted the style of functioning of the police in the State, with special focus on the Vijayawada Police Commissionerate, too should be closely observed.
Pointing out that the ECI has appointed Vijayawada Police Commissioner, Kranthi Rana Tata, as the police observer for the NTR district, Ramaiah opined that unless the Election Commission of India directly ensures the freedom of the contesting candidates from malicious prosecution the entire poll process can become a mockery of democracy.
