Vijayawada: AP state election commissioner Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar said the “Panchayat Elections” will be conduct with state government staff, there is no need of deployment of central staff. He said to the media persons, after reviewing the arrangements for the elections in the respective Ananthapur and Kurnool districts on Friday.

He asserted that “I have no intention to use the Central government staff. I have complete trust in the State government staff and I am hopeful that they are enough for conducting the polls efficiently. Expressing satisfaction over the election arrangements, the SEC commended the Anantapur District Collector for taking required safety measures for the polling staff and exuded confidence that the collectors of remaining districts will also take similar steps.

The SEC called upon the voters to turn up in large numbers for exercising their franchise. To facilitate social distancing at polling stations, the Commission increased the polling time — 6.30 am to 3.30 pm instead of the earlier 7 am to 1 pm, he said, adding that PPE kits will also be provided to the Covid positive patients to cast their vote.

The SEC said that unanimous elections are not new as they existed in the past and will be there in the future and one cannot find fault with them. “However, they cannot be forced by fixing some targets and I will not agree with the argument that only the unanimous election will do good for the villages,” he said and suggested forming more shadow teams to keep a vigil on the illegal activities aimed at forcing unanimous elections. He further said an app with a call centre was arranged for receiving the election related complaints.

The SEC in the media conference at Kurnool said, the SEC questioned the rationale behind issuing full page advertisements in newspapers spending crores of rupees urging villagers to go for unanimous elections. Incentives to Grama Panchayats, who elect their representative unanimously, are already there and it is not the invention of the State government, he said.

SEC said that in the name of unanimous elections, the spirit of democracy should not be curtailed and advised the government not to campaign for unanimous elections. “Don’t create an unhealthy situation in the villages and don’t make pressure tactics and threaten the aspirants in the name of unanimous elections,” he said, asserting that wherever there is a contest between candidates, it should not be bulldozed as it is against the spirit of the Constitution. He commended the efforts of the district administration particularly collector G Veera Pandian in controlling Covid-19.