Amaravati: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president Nara Chandrababu Naidu on Friday raised his oft-repeated objection against counting voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) slips from only five polling booths.
The token counting was of no use, Naidu said during a press conference at his Undavalli residence.
“We demand counting of at least 50% VVPATs. We have already moved the Supreme Court over this along with 23 other parties. Counting of paper trail from a mere five booths is useless. We will come to know of the accurate result only if all VVPAT slips are considered,” the TDP leader said, adding that conducting impartial election was the poll body’s responsibility.
Naidu also launched an attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP national president Amit Shah and said they were killing the country’s democracy.
“These two men are now deciding the terms of the election. At a time when the election process in underway, the PM conducts review meetings over several issues, talks about soldiers and religions, but as a chief minister, I am not allowed to do so. Why is the discrimination?” Naidu said.
He said he would hold a cabinet meeting next week over the Election Commission’s alleged interference in Andhra’s day-to-day affairs.
The state Chief Election Officer, Gopala Krishna Dwivedi, had earlier raised concerns over the CM’s review meetings on the Polavaram project and Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority.
Meanwhile, the chief minister lauded the efforts of his government’s Real Time Governance Society (RTGS) team for providing updated information on cyclone Fani and help prevent human fatalities. He said the team’s work was appreciated by the railways department and Odisha government.
He said over 700 villages were affected by the cyclone crops and properties worth Rs 10 crore were damage.
The chief minister said alerts were sent to more than 14 lakh people in the state.
He also appealed to TDP cadres to actively involve themselves in post-cyclone restoration work in affected villages of Srikakulam district.
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