BJP charges police of helping BRS, complains to EC

Telangana BJP has appealed to the Election Commission of India (ECI) complaining about the state police being a ‘mute spectator’ to the various ‘electoral malpractices’ by the ruling BRS representatives during polling in various districts across the state on Thursday.

State president and Union Minister for Tourism, Culture and Development of Northeast Region, G. Kishan Reddy, in his complaint, charged that the police was allowing the BRS leaders to move in groups of 100-200 people around the polling areas and when the BJP was objecting to the same, the party cadre was being ‘attacked’.

Giving specific instances, the Minister said it happened predominantly seen in Jangoan where the BJP leaders were threatened with dire consequences by the BRS groups when the electoral violations were being brought to the notice of the police teams present there.

In Amberpet constituency within the capital region, the police have been ‘inactive’ even after being informed about the official BRS candidate and his son allegedly distributing money to the voters. The police are either ‘directly or indirectly’ helping the BRS and threatening to file false complaints against the BJP when these were being brought to their notice, thereby vitiating the conditions for conducting a free and fair poll across TS, he maintained.

Probe demanded

In a second complaint to the EC, the party demanded conduct of an immediate enquiry into the ‘provocative’ act of the Andhra Pradesh Government in sending its police teams to forcibly open the gates of the Nagarjunasagar Dam in the early hours of Thursday.

In a communication to the EC, general secretary K. Venkateshwarlu accused that the AP police teams were sent to the dam site to create ‘trouble’ in the water sharing aspect and rake up the ‘Telangana sentiment’ to benefit the ruling BRS Party.

He said that the AP police teams had over-powered the small group of Telangana police on guard duty and tried to open the gates of the dam which was otherwise calm and away from the disputes between both the Telugu states. It was a malafide action to help the BRS which is facing a ‘tough situation’. “This is nothing but a hand in glove attempt by the AP Chief Minister Y. Jaganmohan Reddy and TS Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, who have had an ‘open friendship’ to help each other in times of need, he added.

Stop Exit Polls

Earlier, the part has also urged the EC to ensure that the exit polls should not be allowed to be telecast on TV news channels or made public on the social media for the all states elections till the last voter has exercised his or her vote on Thursday.

In a memorandum to EC, the party general secretary G. Premender Reddy pointed out that the exit polls will be made public as soon as the official voting ends at 5.30 p.m. But, the EC allows those standing in the queues to continue voting beyond the stipulated time, hence the exit polls should be withheld till the last vote is cast.