Congress Asks EC For Ballots In Narayankhed

The Telangana Congress today appealed to the Election Commission either to install Voters Verifiable Paper Audit Trial (VVAPT) or ballot papers, or postpone the polling dates of the Narayanakhed Assembly constituency, so as to "protect democracy and ensure fair conduct of elections".

The Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) addressed a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner of India urging it to use VVAPT or ballot papers in the upcoming by-election to the Narayankhed Assembly constituency.

In his letter, TPCC chief N Uttam Kumar Reddy stated that the Party had originally suspected after the Warangal Parliament constituency elections that the EVMs were being tampering with, but was convinced after the GHMC elections that it was indeed happening and that the results were fraudulent.

Several voters had approached the Party saying that their votes had not gone to their choice of contestant, Reddy said. Much other data that the Party had gathered from the contestants and the voters of the Warangal Parliament constituency and the GHMC area had also convinced it that the results did not depict the true mandate given by the voters, and that in several cases the EVMs were tampered with to manipulate the results.

Therefore, the Party seriously felt that the constitutional provisions were being violated and strongly believed that things were not appropriate as far as the elections in Telangana were concerned.

The Congress also had serious concerns that the government machinery, which was supposed to be the custodian of the Constitution, was being misused.

In this context, there was a bigger danger that the people might lose faith in the election process and in democracy itself, Reddy said.

Under the circumstances, the TPCC concluded that unless the Election Commission of India (ECI) intervened and rescued the people of Telangana, there was no question of a fair conduct of elections in Telangana.

Reddy urged the ECI to ensure that VVPATs were used along with the EVMs, or to bring in ballot papers in place of the EVMs, in the upcoming by-election for the Narayankhed Assembly constituency in the Medak district, so as to avoid damage due to any potential tampering of the EVMs and to provide a fair play for all the political parties, and to also initiate appropriate action against the CEO of Telangana and the State Election Commissioner of Telangana for violating the Indian Constitution and for failing in their duty to safeguard democracy.

TPCC chief official spokesperson D Sravan Kumar also met Chief Election Commissioner Naseem Jaidi on Monday in this regard along with former MLA Bikshamaiah Goud. Sravan too urged the ECI to introduce printers in the EVMs in the Narayanakhed by-election or use ballot papers, and to postpone the by-election in case it was not possible to do that at such short notice.

Speaking to the media later, Sravan, too, said that the Congress felt that the EVMs were being tampered with, and that their doubts were proved right in the GHMC elections. He asked how IT Minister K Taraka Rama Rao knew that his Party would win 100 seats in the GHMC elections.

Alleging that the TRS government had tampered with the EVMs, he made it clear that the TPCC would wage a court battle over the issue.