appeal to election commission on gram panchayat elections

7/27/2019 Appeal to Election Commission on Gram Panchayat Elections

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24th July 2013

To,

P Ramakanth Reddy

Chief Election CommissionerBuddha Bhavan

Secunderabad.

Sub: Appeal to restrain Political Parties & Media from announcing Gram Panchayat election

results on party basis

Respected Sir,

We would like to bring to your kind notice an unhealthy practice being adopted by the political parties &

Telugu media (Newspapers & TV Channels) in announcing the results of the ongoing Gram Panchayat

Elections on party basis.

Since last one week, we are seeing several instances of political parties claiming that they have won a

majority number of Gram Panchayat seats and the Telugu media publishing and airing news about the

election results on a party basis.

This happened twice in the last one week. First, when the list of unanimously elected candidates was

announced on 17th July and then on 23rd and 24th July, 2013, when the first phase of Gram Panchayat

elections were completed. Whats shocking is that the different political parties and media houses are

claiming that the same Gram Panchayat seat is won by different political party. We have attached a few

newsclips for your perusal.

Sir, as you are already aware, the Gram Panchayat elections are being held on a non-party basis. The

candidates are allotted only free symbols per the notification of the State Election Commission

Lr.No.425.SEC-L/2011 dated 08.06.2011

Attributing a political party to a candidate, defeats the very purpose of holding these elections on a non-

party basis of delinking political affiliations and local governance. We reproduce an extract from the Order

passed by State Election Commission (No. 1374/SEC-B1/2013 Dated 20.07.2013)

The Gram Panchayat elections are conducted on non-party basis and th e candidates are allotted

only free symb ols that are not reserved to any pol i t ica l par ty . In con formi ty w i th the apol i t ical

sp i r i t contemplated under the statute, the campaign sh ould be con ducted wi thout any pol i t ica l

overto nes. If pol i t ical overtones are allow ed to creep into the camp aign proc ess, the spir i t of the

statute is derailed and the voting public will be swayed by extraneous considerations.

The State election commission has already issued guidelines to candidates in exercise of the plenary

powers conferred on it under Article 243K of the Constitution of India and Section 200 of the AP

Panchayat Raj Act 1994. These guidelines prohibit candidates from displaying any affiliation to any

political party.


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But, the Telugu media houses have been repeatedly telecasting and publishing the Gram Panchayat

Election results on a party-basis. This is vitiating the atmosphere in the villages.

Another important fallout of this party-wise result announcement, is its adverse impact on the next round

of Gram Panchayat Election. Since these elections are held in three phases, attributing the results to a

political party will definitely influence the elections of the next two rounds of elections.

We would like to remind that when elections are held in phased manner, Election Commission does not

allow even opinion polls to be published/telecasted before all the phases of elections are completed.

Keeping the above issues in mind, we request to issue an order restraining the political parties in the

state from claiming, and the media houses (News Channels & News Papers) from publishing the Gram

Panchayat Election results on a party basis.

Thank you,

Konatham Dileep

Rakesh Dubbudu

Address for Communication:

Konatham Dileep

Flat No 102,

Abhinay Residency

Buddha Nagar

Uppal Depot

Hyderabad 500039Phone: 9849696536

Relevant References:

1) State Election Commission Lr.No.425.SEC-L/2011 dated 08.06.2011

2) State Election Commission (No. 1374/SEC-B1/2013 Dated 20.07.2013)3) State Election Commission Official Statement dated 03/07/20134) Newsclips from various Telugu newspapers


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Example of same Gram Panchayat being claimed by different political parties


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Newsclip from Sakshi Newspaper dated 24th July 2013


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Newsclip from Andhrajyothy newspaper dated 24th July 2013


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Newsclip from Andhrajyothy newspaper dated 18th July 2013


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TDP President Chandra Babu Naidu claiming TDP won majority seats in unanimously elected Gram

Panchayats (22nd July 2013 Andhrajyothy)

appeal to election commission on gram panchayat elections

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