A week after submitting a memorandum to Election Commission of India seeking derecognition of Telugu Desam Party for unleashing abuses on Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, ruling YSRC MPs led by V Vijay Sai Reddy submitted a similar memorandum to President of India Ramnath Kovind on Tuesday.
In the petition to the President, the YSRC MPs requested that the Centre be directed to derecognise the main opposition Telugu Desam Party “for maintaining decency and decorum in public life and for preserving democratic ethics in the country.”
This petition was obviously in retaliation to a representation by TDP president and former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu to the President of India demanding imposition of President’s Rule in Andhra Pradesh on the pretext of breakdown of law and order.
Sai Reddy and others brought to the notice of Kovind that the TDP had resorted to gross violation of Representation of Peoples (RP) Act, 1951 in Andhra Pradesh by resorting to an orchestrated campaign against the state government to poisoning the minds of the people.
“The opposition party is spreading false propaganda, bringing in cuss words in to the political lexicon through public meetings, press conferences and television debates, showing the state in poor light by linking it to drugs and using its friendly media to further its dark agenda,” the MPs said.
They said the TDP, which had been rejected by the people in the recent local body elections, had been seething with intolerance and started a smear campaign against the government.
“The rancour has peaked with the TDP leaders along with spokesperson K Pattabhi repeatedly using choicest expletives, epithets and cuss words without sparing even the chief minister,” the MPs complained.
The petition pointed out how the TDP leaders had made baseless and wild allegations regarding the availability of drugs and narcotics in Andhra Pradesh and tried to portray it as a state-sponsored activity.
“Unfortunately, members of TDP, including Naidu, did not condemn these remarks,” they said.