NEW DELHI: Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Monday said his predecessor and YSRCP president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy is regretting supporting the law on Election Commission (EC) appointments because the poll body now “doesn’t do what he (Jagan) says.”Addressing a press conference at his residence in Undavalli, Naidu said: “Earlier, you (Reddy) supported the procedure for appointing the CEC. But now, since the EC does not do what you say, you oppose it. Now you are talking about Gen Z… Gen Z.”Naidu’s remarks come a day after Reddy “regretted” supporting the 2023 legislation on the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) when the YSRCP was in power in Andhra Pradesh.Under the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023, which the YSRCP had supported at the time, the CEC and the two Election Commissioners are picked by a three-member committee comprising the prime minister, a Union minister and the Lok Sabha leader of the opposition.The committee recommends the names to the President, who formally appoints them.However, the legislation has come under criticism because the government, with two representatives on the committee, already has a majority in the panel. The law has been challenged in the Supreme Court.
What did Jagan Mohan Reddy say
After meeting the State Election Commissioner on Sunday, Jagan Mohan Reddy urged the Centre to revisit the law and expressed regret for supporting the bill in Parliament.Referring to an Indian Express report that alleged a “rift” within the EC, with CEC Gyanesh Kumar on one side and commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi on the other, the former chief minister called for “greater clarity”.“Rather than an exchange of allegations, the public needs clarity on what objections were recorded, what action was taken on them, and how transparently the system functioned,” he told reporters.
The report, published last month, has triggered protests in several parts of the country, particularly in Delhi, with demonstrators demanding Kumar’s resignation or removal.Reddy also urged the Union government to restore the original selection committee proposed by the Supreme Court, comprising the prime minister, the Lok Sabha leader of the opposition and the Chief Justice of India (CJI).The government later amended the law, replacing the CJI with a Union minister on the committee.(With agency inputs)