The controversies around Pulivendula ZPTC by-election continued even after the election process was concluded. It may be recalled that the YSRCP, which faced disastrous defeat after in the fortress of former Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy, for the first time during the last 45 years of their family regime there, is continuing its struggle accusing large-scale irregularities in conduct of election.
Now, the National SC Commission issued a notice to Kadapa District Collector Cherukuri Sridhar over the irregularities in the Pulivendula ZPTC by-election. The commission received a complaint that SC voters were prevented from exercising their right to vote, that goons occupied polling booths, and that votes were cast in the names of genuine voters without their permission.
The SC Commission said that such incidents are tantamount to denial of fundamental rights and atrocities on Scheduled Caste voters. Taking this into consideration, the SC Commission initiated an inquiry using its powers under Article 338 of the Constitution. In the notice issued on August 26, it ordered the Collector to submit a detailed action taken report on this within 15 days.
It was suggested that the report should mention what action has been taken on allegations of illegality of booths, denial of voting rights, and misuse of votes. The SC Commission warned that if it fails to respond within the deadline, it will have to exercise the powers of the civil court and issue summons to the Collector to appear in person or through a representative.
It recalled that the right to vote is a constitutional protection. The Commission assured that it will look into the matter seriously to protect the democratic rights of the Scheduled Castes. The ZPTC by-election held in the Pulivendula area of YSRCP chief YS Jagan’s constituency in AP has become a topic of discussion across the state.
The TDP, which took this election with great ambition, tried to compete with the YSRCP. As part of this, the YSRCP made serious allegations that the TDP was involved in irregularities. However, the result was unilateral support for the TDP. With this, another twist took place in the context of the discussion that the YSRCP’s allegations have lost their value.
