N. Chandrababu Naidu, the President of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP,) on the 18th of April, fumed at Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh (A.P.,)
Sharing a few pictures of newspaper headlines through his Twitter handle, Chandrababu Naidu lashed out at the A.P., CM and said, “Is this a joke? When the world is fighting to mitigate the worst effects of #Coronavirus, @ysjagan is holding parleys with officials over (a) fresh schedule for local body elections. He is not learning lessons and willing to risk the health of millions for political gains. Shocking!”
Is this a joke? When the world is fighting to mitigate the worst effects of #Coronavirus, @ysjagan is holding parleys with officials over fresh schedule for local body elections. He is not learning lessons & willing to risk the health of millions for political gains. Shocking! pic.twitter.com/lvk3pPEoBz
— N Chandrababu Naidu #StayHomeSaveLives (@ncbn) April 18, 2020
Recently, Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy conducted a meeting with officials regarding the local body elections and is willing to conduct the elections soon after the lockdown ends, on the 3rd of May.
The determination of the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) to conduct the polls is said to be due to the high chances of winning the elections as of now. Regarding this, Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy even replaced N. Ramesh Kumar, the State Election Commissioner of Andhra Pradesh by passing an ordinance.
On the 10th of April, the YSRCP Government removed Ramesh Kumar by passing an ordinance, which included amendments in change of the tenure, eligibility, and method of appointment of the SEC. On the 11th of April, the State Government Appointed V. Kanagaraj as the new SEC of Andhra Pradesh. The appointment of V. Kanagaraj, a former judge of the Madras High Court, was approved by Biswa Bhusan Harichandan, the Governor of A.P., after he approved the amendments of the ordinance that was passed.
The local bodies have the power to make a decision on the shifting of the administrative capital. If the YSRCP wins the local body elections, it would be easier for the Party to shift the administrative capital to Visakhapatnam from Amaravati.
In regard to this, the YSRCP Government faced a lot of criticism from opposition parties like the TDP, the JanaSena Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP.)
Meanwhile, N. Ramesh Kumar, who was removed as the SEC amid the Nationwide lockdown, filed a petition in the Andhra Pradesh High Court (H.C.,) challenging his removal.
The AP HC scheduled the hearing for the 20th of April and would decide whether the ordinance passed by the State Government would be constitutional or not.
The opposition parties questioned the urgency of the ordinance and removal of N. Ramesh Kumar during a pandemic situation.
In regard to this, leaders of the JanaSena Party, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) also filed six petitions in the AP High Court.
The A.P., High Court is going to review all the six petitions and the petition of N. Ramesh Kumar together at the next hearing, scheduled on the 20th of April.
