The full-page advertisement released by the Jagan Mohan Reddy government in the newspapers on Wednesday making an appeal for making the elections to gram panchayats unanimous has expectedly caught the attention of state election commissioner Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar.
Nimmagadda said though he would welcome unanimous elections to gram panchayats if they are not forced ones, any such advertisement should be given only in consultation with the SEC.
“Any issue related to local body elections, whether it is about unanimous elections or the contest, will be under the purview of the SEC. Without its knowledge, no announcements or advertisements should be given. Several other political parties also raised an objection over the advertisement,” he told reporters later in the evening.
He said he had called for an explanation from the commissioner of information and public relations on the issue.
The opposition parties said the government had no right to issue the publicity-mongering advertisements on the election process and the unanimous elections. It amounted to interfering with the election process and infringing on the authority of the SEC, a TDP leader said.
