President urged to direct EC on counting of votes

Hyderabad, Apr 7 (UNI) A candidate contesting elections to the Legislative Council (MLC) from Kurnool district today urged the President A P J Abdul Kalam to direct the Election Commission (EC) to clear the hurdles for counting votes.

The candidate P Radhakrishna Rao (TDP) in a letter to the President submitted that though the polling was held for 24 constituencies on March 17, the counting of the votes was stopped based on the complaint received by the EC with regard to breach of secrecy of votes from some candidates and people in high positions.

He said as per the reports of district administration, there was no complaint from any quarter about irregularities, electoral offences or corrupt practices like rigging, impersonation, fake voting, booth capturing, bombing and poll violence.

He pointed out that the EC had launched an inquiry and stalled the counting responding to certain media reports.

He alleged that the EC had procrastinated on the counting process, without considering the fate of candidates.

The 24 prospective MLCs were deprived of their right to vote in the elections to Chairman of Legislative Council, he said.

UNI