HYDERABAD, 1 March 2004 — Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu yesterday said that the state required more forces from the central government for peaceful elctions in view of the growing threat from the left-wing extremists.
Addressing a media conference here, the chief minister said: “We want to have impartial elections. We need more forces to conduct the poll peacefully. If they (the Election Commission) are prepared to give more forces, let them conduct the one-day polls. We will be very happy but extra forces are very important.”
“In a democracy, free and fair polls are very essential. This is the stand of Telugu Desam Party. Now, it is left to the Election Commission to ensure this,” he added.
Naidu reiterated his charge that “the opposition in the state is in collusion with the extremists. “We should not forget that opposition parties and naxalites are working together. Naxals are propagating to vote for Congress and Sonia Gandhi. They are saying, ‘if you vote for Sonia, it is vote for naxalites.’”
The Telugu Desam supremo asserted that there would be no anti-incumbency sentiment against the ruling party alliance on account of the polls being held during summer. The government was gearing up to tackle the drinking water scarcity and power shortage in the summer months.
“We are not afraid of summer, since we are sure that whenever the polls are held, we are going to win in a big way,” he quipped.
Taking exception to the banning of poll-related ads on TV, Naidu said “it is not correct. It (the electronic media) is the one media through which you can reach out very easily to large sections of people.”
