Will hold talks with anyone but Hari Prasad: EC

NEW DELHI: The Election Commission on Sunday wrote back to Telugu Desam Party pointing out that the name of its technical adviser Hari Prasad, arrested for EVM theft in 2010, was not there in the list of delegates provided by the party when Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu met the commission along with the delegation on Saturday.

“During the meeting, Hari Prasad was invited by the chief election commissioner to come for discussion with Prof Shahani, chairman, technical expert committee, and Sudeep Jain, deputy election commissioner, being oblivious of his background which the commission came to know later,” the EC said in its letter to the TDP legal cell chief.

It was only after the EC checked the name of TDP experts being deputed to meet Jain and Shahani that the Andhra Pradesh resident commissioner took Hari Prasad’s name. This When the EC searched his antecedents, they discovered that it was indeed the EVM theft accused who had met the CEC with Naidu’s delegation and was also deputed by the CM for a more detailed discussion on EVMs with EC experts.

“If you may like to send any other expert, you may kindly send as the commission is not comfortable in interacting with Hari Prasad, as already communicated,” it said.