Poll Body Violated Rule By Relaxing Postal Ballot Norms In Andhra: YSR Congress

The Election Commission of India is following one rule in Andhra Pradesh and another rule in the rest of the country about the validity of the postal ballots, said YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) on Monday.

YSRCP General Secretary and Andhra Pradesh government advisor Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy said that the poll panel violated its own rule by relaxing the postal ballot norms only in the case of Andhra Pradesh.

On the Supreme Court refusing to interfere in the matter, he said this does not make a wrong the right.

A vacation bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and Sandeep Mehta said on Monday that in the facts and circumstances of the cases, the court was not inclined to interfere with the June 1 order of the Andhra Pradesh High Court.

The YSR Congress Party had challenged the EC's May 30 circular which relaxed the norms of the attestation of postal ballots for Andhra Pradesh on the grounds that it was discriminatory to the State.

The EC through its circular asked the election officials to consider the postal ballot as valid even if the postal ballot declaration form has no name, designation, or seal but has the signature of the attesting officer.

The YSRCP leader alleged that Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N. Chandrababu Naidu tried to manipulate the system and used his alliance with the BJP to influence institutions like the Election Commission.

"Chandrababu trying to manage systems is not new. Ever since he entered into an alliance with the BJP, he has been trying to put pressure on systems and get a hold of the official machinery," he said.

He mentioned in July last year the Election Commission issued the norms which make it mandatory that the postal ballot carry not only the signature of the attesting officer but also details like his name and designation.

"But in Andhra Pradesh, it blatantly violated its own rule by announcing that postal ballot will be accepted only if it carries the signature of the official. This relaxation after polling and before counting has created doubts," he said.

Ramakrishna Reddy, however, said that the conspiracies by Chandrababu Naidu had no impact on the ground realities. "YSRCP is confident that it will form the government again with an overwhelming majority," he said.

He said YSRCP cadres had been asked to be ready for celebrations between 10-30 a.m. and 11 a.m.

"The writing on the wall is clear no matter how many doubts created with the Exit Polls," he said.

He rejected the predictions made by some Exit Polls and claimed that since Chandrababu Naidu has an alliance with the BJP, they have made such predictions.

"These Exit Polls are an attempt to show a few seats more for the BJP and its alliance in the south," he said.

He found fault with the predictions saying they do not match with the actual number of seats contested by the parties.

Ramakrishna Reddy said a workshop for counting agents of YSRCP was conducted ahead of the counting of votes on Tuesday.

"In view of the unusual situation, we have asked the counting agents to remain alert," he said.

The party has asked the counting agents not to leave the counting centres till the counting process is completed and the result is officially declared. The agents were told to ensure that not a single vote is missed.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)