Andhra Pradesh - Vijayawada

Congress supporter elected chief of Krishna eastern delta project panel

VIJAYAWADA: Rudrapaka Distributory Committee (DC) president Chintapalli Sudhir was elected chairman of the Krishna Eastern Delta Project Committee amidst allegations of foul play by the Telugu Desam. The candidate supported by the Congress was declared elected by count of hands.

Tension prevailed at the Sub-Collector’s office, with the Congress and the TDP activists gathering there in large numbers as word spread that Vijayawada Irrigation Circle Superintending Engineer and election officer T. Sivaji was trying to favour Mr. Sudhir under pressure from Congress leaders. TDP leaders, who were present, alleged that the election officer buckled to pressure from former Zilla Parishad chairman Pinnamaneni Koteswara Rao and declared Mr. Sudhir the winner.

Nandigama MLA Devineni Umamaheswara Rao was the first to arrive at the scene. The MLA squatted on Mahatma Gandhi Road in front of the Sub-Collector’s office to register his protest, necessitating the diversion of traffic. Former MP Ambati Brahmanaiah, former Chief Whip Kagita Venkata Rao, former MLA Dasari Balavardhana Rao and party leaders Bonda Umamaheswara Rao and Ch. Venkateswara Rao (Pandu) joined the MLA in the sit-in.

Kankipadu MLA Devineni Rajasekhar of the Congress also arrived at the venue with his supporters. Krishna District Congress Committee president Segu Venkateswarlu, corporator and local strongman Venkata Satyanarayana came with their followers in tow.

Trouble started in the election hall when TDP DC presidents pointed out a “technical fault” in Mr. Sudhir’s nomination forms during scrutiny. There was an error in the number of the distributory committee of C.V. Suryanarayana, who seconded the candidature of Mr. Sudhir.

Numbers of the DCs of both Mr. Sudhir and Mr. Suryanarayana were mentioned as 12, while the DC number of the later was actually 31. The TDP DC presidents demanded that the nomination of Mr. Sudhir be rejected and their candidate Kankipadu DC president Thotakura Vishweswara Rao be declared the winner.

The TDP DC presidents raised a hue and cry when the election officer made corrections in the nomination paper changing the figure 12 to 31. They later reportedly grabbed Mr. Sudhir’s nomination paper from the election officer and tore it to shreds. The Congress DC presidents tore up the nomination forms of Mr. Vishweswara Rao in retaliation leading to bedlam.

Both the groups, however, reconciled and gave fresh nominations later, but the TDP DC presidents refused to participate in any voting process to register their protest. The election officer conducted elections on the basis of hand count. While 19 DC presidents voted for Mr. Sudhir, none voted for Mr. Visweswara Rao because the TDP DC presidents, who were only 11 in number, refused to raise their hands. Mr. Sudhir was then declared elected by the election officer.

Addressing the media after the result was declared, the Nandigama MLA said: “Democracy was murdered by the Congress,” and the issue would be taken to the people.

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