వైసీపీ నాయకులకి, జగన్ మోహన్ రెడ్డి చేసిన ఆరోపణలకు, ఎన్నికల కమిషన్ వారికి సమాధానం చెప్తూ, ప్రెస్ నోట్ రిలేజ్ చేసింది. #PRESSNOTE In the contest of certain aspersions cast on the decisions taken by the State Election Commission, the factual clarification is as under. 1. The Government of India had issued a health advisory to the States to -avoid larger public gatherings some time back. On 14.03.2020, the Government of India had classified Corona virus as a 'disaster'and kept the nation in a State of preparedness. The State Election Commissioner did contact national level functionaries before taking a decision on the threat 'Corona' posed. If the aforesaid warning is de-escalated, the State Election Commission will restart the election process without loss of a single day. 2. The Model Code of Conduct (MCC) is in force during every election. The issue of house sites to individual beneficiaries is covered under the MCC.
The Hon'ble High Court in its observations in WP (PIL) No. 177 of zOLg and 18 of 2020 observed that the State Electicin Commission is bound to follow the guidelines consistent to the guidelines of ECI and take appropriate steps to hold free and fair election without allowing to adopt the evil practices by any of the parties. The Commission is of the view that the present elections are merely put on a hold and not cancelled. As elections are likely to restart in six weeks or before, if the 'Corona' virus threat is de-escalated, a correct view is taken that the MCC will be in currency.
3. Violence in the ongoing elections is a matter that is engaging the attention of the Commission and various political parties have been highlighting the surge of violence. This is also a subject matter in an ongoing litigation before the Hon'ble High Court in WP (PIL) No. 65 of 2020 in which the State Election Commission is the respondent. The State Election is affecting certain measures regarding Government functionaries, had acted as per the dictum of Hon'ble Supreme Court contained in the landmark judgment in Kishan Singh Tomar Vs, The Municipal Corporation of the City of Ahmedabad. Finally, the State Election Commission is a Constitutional body and the Commissioner is at par,with the Judge of High Court. All the safeguards available to a Judge of High Court are applicable to the State Election Commissioner. To attribute motives for the acts of a Constitutional functionary are highly regretted and will only weaken the institution. " అంటూ ఎలక్షన్ కమిషన్ ప్రెస్ నోట్ రిలీజ్ చేసింది.