TDP senior leader and sitting MLA Payyavula Keshav lodged a complaint with the Chief Electoral Officer Mukesh Kumar Meena on Saturday stating that the police were harassing leaders of the opposition parties by booking bind-over cases against them on frivolous charges.
He told the media that the Election Commission of India (ECI) had laid down clear guidelines about the equal rights all political parties were entitled to but the ground reality in Andhra Pradesh was different as the ‘‘discrimination against the opposition parties by the police was evident’‘.
‘’The police are foisting cases under the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act on opposition leaders as part of the pressure tactics apparently deployed by the YSR Congress Party. The candidates of the TDP and its allies are finding it hard to campaign as police imposed restrictions on one pretext or the other,’‘ he alleged.