UTTAM: USE BALLOT PAPERS FOR PANCHAYATI RAJ POLLS

PCC president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy on Sunday demanded that the state government go for ballot papers instead of EVMs in the coming Panchayati Raj elections in the state.

Expressing concern over reports of tampering of EVMs in the local body elections in Uttar Pradesh, Mr Uttam Kumar Reddy demanded that the panchayat elections should be held only through ballot papers.

Addressing a meeting of senior party leaders at Gandhi Bhavan, he said the panchayat elections would be crucial for the party ahead of the 2019 general elections. He asked the party leaders to participate in the voter enrolment drive being conducted by the State Election Commission and asked them to crosscheck the lists regularly and take measures for rectification of mistakes.

He appointed a committee headed by ex-MLA Marri Sashidhar Reddy, and leaders including B. Kamalakar Rao, Shyama Mohan and G. Niranjan, to deal with issues pertaining to the electoral rolls.

Referring to Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s directive to strengthen the party’s presence on social media, Uttam Kumar Reddy said the party would appoint 50,000 social media coordinators. Whatsapp groups will be created for all 31,656 polling stations.

He said Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s birthday on December 9 will be celebrated as ‘Krithagnatha Dinotsavam’ (Thanksgiving Day) for granting statehood to Telangana.