Opposition parties averse to LS polls under present CEO

​Hyderabad: Opposition parties in Telangana are going to oppose the conduct of Lok Sabha polls under present Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Rajat Kumar in the backdrop of missing votes fiasco in the just-concluded assembly elections. Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS) Chief Prof Kodandaram said that his party and if possibly parties that are in People’s Front would meet Chief Election Commission in New Delhi as well as President Ram Nath Kovind urging their intervention to take action against Telangana CEO for failing to discharge duties in a free and fair manner.

He expressed support to the Congress demand for a CBI enquiry into assets of Rajat Kumar before and after assembly polls. In an interaction with the media at party office on Saturday, Kodandaram was critical of office of the CEO, Telangana for the missing 22 lakh votes’ fiasco that cast doubts in all Opposition parties. It may not be very long before people wage a movement to ensure election commission holds elections in a transparent manner.

Replying to a query whether he would campaign in AP elections, Kodandaram ruled out saying that he was preoccupied with party affairs in Telangana for the next few months. He, however, said that he still had good contacts with people over there having participated in various agitations in several districts of the neighbouring Telugu State.

Kodandaram also dismissed rumours of TJS merging with the Congress in the future similar to Chiranjeevi’s Praja Rajyam merger with the Congress in the past. He said that the TJS was here to stay and was clear about its role going forward in Telangana politics.

When asked about any cracks developing in People’s Front in the backdrop of divided talk in Congress camp on how alliance led to a big defeat, the retired professor said that Congress had not officially announced its stand on alliance and hence it was not right for him to comment on inside affairs of the national party.

Irrespective of People’s Front future, which would be assessed in coming weeks, TJS is not sitting silent and instead focusing on its role in upcoming election battles. He was highly critical of legislators switching to party in power forgetting about ideologies, their individuality and vision. “Switching parties as become as easy as changing clothes now,” he commented.

Speaker or Council Chairman should be transparent while dealing with ruling party or opposition in such related cases, he felt. The TJS supremo said that his party leaders were filing nominations for the Panchayat elections. He, however, was critical of “manufacturing consensus” trend being seen in some villages, under the force of ruling party. Kodandaram called upon State Election Commission to take stock of situation in such cases. The TJS chief faulted the State government for reducing BC quota for Panchayat polls.