HYDERABAD: Telugu Desam president N. Chandrababu Naidu described the Andhra Pradesh High Court order quashing the panchayat election notification and holding the voter lists invalid, as a victory for democracy and a slap on the face of all those who sought to violate the Constitution, undermine democracy and deny voting right.

Addressing a press conference, a smiling Mr. Naidu hailed the order but appeared reluctant to demand resignation of Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy saying, "Going by past judgements, he should have resigned 25 times by now." A few minutes before the press conference, party candidates from Pulivendula, who were camping at the party office following threats to their lives, burst crackers. They were stopped in their tracks by senior leaders of the party.

`Rectify mistakes'

On the State Election Commission and the Government's move to go in appeal, Mr. Naidu said they should learn a lesson and avoid it. "At least now they should rectify the mistakes in the voter lists and call for an all-party meeting. The court order clearly shows that the SEC had abdicated his responsibility as specified in the Constitution and the Panchayat Raj Act of ensuring that the inclusion and deletion of voters is done properly. If the SEC accompanies us, we can prove the large-scale irregularities."

Mr. Naidu who appeared visibly happy at the court order said it was wrong to go ahead with the election schedule as the court had specifically held that the voter lists were invalid. It meant corrective steps were required before going ahead with elections, which "we want to be held in a proper manner."

The court order goes on to expose the Government's attitude of caring two hoots for the Constitution, laws, rules and regulations. "The Government in its effort to win the elections by hook or crook came up with this plan of removing voters sympathetic to the TDP and including those favouring Congress. Similar was the case with restructuring of MPTCs and reservations. We had been complaining to the SEC and holding demonstrations but he had not initiated any action."

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