Chandrababu, Self-styled Saviour Of Democracy Calls AP Elections, A Farce

Amaravati: Chandrababu Naidu is resorting to strange and frustrated patterns of behaviour. This becomes evident from his mocking the April 11 people’s verdict which is sealed in EVMs as a 'farce', blaming the EVMs even before the results are out, claiming they were tampered, his criticism of the Election Commission of India and describing chief secretary of AP, LV Subramanyam, as a ‘covert’. People are furious with the TDP supremo for trying to mock the verdict of nearly 80% of the voters in the state who exercised their franchise. The question being asked is—40 days before the election results would be officially declared, when the polling process got over smoothly and all the EVMs have been securely kept in strong rooms till May 23, why is Chandrababu Naidu kicking up such a storm?

The Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister’s comments are being seen as an attack on democracy and institutions and are widely being condemned. Several intellectuals feel that Chandrababu Naidu has realised that people have rejected his undemocratic and corrupt rule by coming out and voting in large numbers against the TDP. This is the reason for his frustration well before the results are out. Instead of accepting the verdict of the people which go either way, with grace and dignity, intellectuals say that a leader who claims that he is the senior most politician in the country, is behaving in a highly immature and childish fashion, more in the style of a street fighter. His absurd allegations reflect his anxiety at the possibility of outright defeat.

There is an inherent contradiction in Chandrababu Naidu‘s statements. On the one hand, he blames PM Modi, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao (KCR), Leader of Opposition in AP, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, the Election Commission of India, the Chief Secretary, defective EVMs—anything or anyone he thinks he can find fault with. On the other, he claims that TDP would get more than 130 seats and that people stood in long queues to vote for his party. He says women came out in large numbers as did other voters, to return him to power. If that is truly the case, why should he go into this state of panic, fly to Delhi to meet the ECI and accuse it of conducting a ‘farce’, to use his words? Why should he rush to other states seeking the support of leaders there, if he thinks that the people of his state have emphatically voted for him?

It is criminal on his part to insult the understanding and intelligence of the people of Andhra Pradesh who came in large numbers to vote on April 11 taking the polling percentage to close to 80%, analysts point out.

Moreover, distorting facts, Chandrababu and his party leaders went to town, using the yellow media to propagate the lie that 30% of the EVMs in the state were malfunctioning. The APCEO clarified that out of more than 92,000 EVMs only fewer than 400 machines all over the state developed problems and were either rectified or replaced. Observers say that Chandrababu and his men are fully aware of the difference between 30% of 92,000+, which would be over 27,000 and the reality of fewer than 400 EVMs developing glitches. Yet, they indulged in Goebbelsian propaganda trying to twist facts to lower the percentage of polling and to find excuses for imminent defeat.

As a part of this strategy Chandrababu, other TDP leaders and the yellow media put in place a campaign that the YSRCP would indulge in violence. To counter this YSR Congress party president, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and other party leaders repeatedly directed party workers not to get provoked by TDP men who would deliberately try to incite them on polling day. YS Jagan and other senior party leaders advised YSRCP leaders and workers to be patient and restrained and not to react to any acts of provocation which the TDP would deliberately resort to. The violence unleashed by TDP leaders and workers on polling day was a part of the party’s strategy to disrupt the election process and lower the polling percentage, political observers say. The people of the state however saw through this game of the ruling party leaders and decided to exercise their right in a big way across Andhra Pradesh.

Chandrababu Naidu who makes frequent media appearances every day, did not face the media even once on election day. The TDP supremo‘s media appearance on April 12 was not only a bundle of contradictions but seemed like a clear acceptance of defeat. Some Telugu Desam leaders reportedly admitted privately that Chandrababu Naidu‘s statements after polling were not only demoralising, but lowered the prestige of his office. The party image also took a severe beating in the process, they said. On the whole Chandrababu Naidu‘s behaviour appears to be an acknowledgement of the fact that if people came out to vote in large numbers taking the polling percentage close to 80%, then it would mean an emphatic YSRCP victory. This is the main reason why well before the results are declared, the chief minister is finding excuses to blame his likely defeat on as many factors as he can find.

Also Read: Thanks For Voting In True Democratic Spirit: YS Jagan