Guv seeks SEC report on ULB polls

HYDERABAD:  Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan is understood to have telephoned State Election Commissioner (SEC) C Partha Sarathi on Friday and sought a report on the conduct of polls to two municipal corporations and five municipalities after TPCC president N Uttam Kumar sought her intervention in the matter. According to sources, the SEC is said to have informed the Governor that all safety precautions have been taken to conduct elections peacefully as per the ECI’s and State Health department’s guidelines.  

Earlier, the TPCC chief, in a memorandum, sought the intervention of the Governor in stopping the election process at the present point and resuming it from the same point after the Covid-19 wave starts to subside. The Governor then called up Uttam and assured him that she would speak to the SEC. 

“The daily Covid-19 death count in the State is reaching new highs each day. Notwithstanding this, the State government asks for continuance of the municipal elections and the SEC dutifully follows the government’s directions. By continuing the elections, the SEC is endangering the lives of lakhs of voters in seven civic bodies,” he told the Governor in the representation. However, sources in the SEC ruled out any possibility of postponing the elections, which are scheduled to happen on April 30.