After the introduction of the "rejection vote" by the Election Commission of India, Congress senior leader Daggubati Venkateshwara Rao utilised the option in the Rajya Sabha elections held in Hyderabad on Friday.
Confirming his decision, Daggubati told reporters that he utilised the "None Of The Above" option to reject all the candidates who in the fray for the 6 Rajya Sabha seats. He said he had informed Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and PCC president Botsa Satyanarayana before casting his vote.
Daggubati said that the MLAs had cast their vote as per the guidelines of their High Command and not by their choice. He said all the MLAs (from Seemandhra) had resigned from their posts after the December 9, 2009, announcement on Telangana, but that later, they were asked to abide by the dicates of the Congress High Command.
"The leaders who have guided us in these activities have now come before us as candidates. I felt very bad about all this, and decided to reject all candidates," he said.
Daggubati expressed regret that the Congress High Command had taken a decision in favour of the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh without consulting Seemandhra people. (INN)