The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : TDP president asks Government to quit

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Mar 01, 2006

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

TDP president asks Government to quit

Special Correspondent

Cancellation of the byelection termed a slap on face of Government

HYDERABAD: Describing the Election Commission's decision on cancelling byelection to Visakhapatnam I constituency as a "slap on the face of Government", Telugu Desam Party president N. Chandrababu Naidu has demanded its resignation.

"If the Government has any faith in democracy, it should not stay in power for a minute, having failed to conduct the byelection in a free and fair manner," Mr. Naidu said, addressing a press conference here on Tuesday evening. "It is a moral victory for the party and the people," he added while asserting that AICC president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh too owed an explanation.

Hailing the Election Commission's decision, he said it was a "historic day for Indian democracy and elections." The commission has vindicated the party's stand that the entire election process was vitiated with misuse of official machinery, corrupt practices and use of muscle and money power and offer of liquor.

It was also a sad day in the history of the State in that never in the past, no Government had been indicted for failing to conduct a byelection in a peaceful and fair manner, he said. Right from the announcement of the election, the Government did all that it could to influence the polls. All the election laws were violated. It reached the peak on the polling day when ruling party MLA G. Babji threatened a woman with a pistol. Instead of taking action against him, as the local Deputy Commissioner of Police witnessed the incident, the Government shielded him and set him free.

From the district Collector's behaviour to deploying ten Ministers, the Government stood exposed. Each of the ten Ministers kept making announcements luring voters with airport, IT park, five lakh houses, loans to self- help women's groups being some of them.

The cancellation of the byelection was also a lesson for the officials.

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