AP CM's "tantrums due to fear of defeat": YSRCP

The YSR Congress party Saturday claimed that the fear of defeat has been forcing TDP supremo and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu to resort to "baseless allegations and incoherent comments." The party dubbed his "theatrics" of moving the Election Commission as a meek attempt to gain sympathy. Naidu Saturday met Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora in New Delhi and submitted a memorandum alleging that a large number of EVMs malfunctioned during polling in the state Thursday and inadequate security led to incidents of violence.

Questioning the transfer of several officials ahead of voting, Naidu alleged the poll body "failed to live up to the spirit of constitutional duty" during elections in Andhra Pradesh which was "dangerous for the future of democracy in the country." The Telugu Desam Party chief also demanded that the Election Commission return to the ballot paper system. "Naidu's theatrics began from the day the electioneering ended and he has been resorting to one gimmick or the other to keep his pot of dissent boiling,"YSR Congress Party general secretary Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy said in a party release.

The fear of defeat has been forcing Naidu to resort to "tantrums, baseless allegations and incoherent comments." Reddy alleged that Naidu tried to politicise every issue blatantly and blame the Opposition for it all the time maintaining that EC was biased and not functioning properly. "The people in State Election Commission did not come from outside and were part of the government machinery.

The transfer of SPs, DIG and Chief Secretary was only after considering the facts and procedure and cannot be called arbitrary," Reddy said. The YSR Congress leader claimed Naidu has coined the phrase malfunctioning of electronic voting machines and widely circulated it.

"His effort to bring down the polling percentage failed miserably. People came in large numbers and voting percentage has gone up to 80 per cent which is a clear indication that YSRCP is winning hands down, which is the actual reason for his frustration," Reddy asserted.

Naidu has been so frustrated that he has been taking on the independent agencies and the latest was the Election Commission, the YSRC leader claimed. The same EVMs were functioning well and he had full faith in them in 2014 (elections) and suddenly they became obsolete as TDP baseeroded drastically this time around, Reddy alleged.

"Chandrababu Naidu going to Delhi is only for cheap publicity and people have decided his fate decisively though his coterie and friendly media try to project it otherwise," Reddy added..