Jagan regrets YSRCP support for 2023 election law

YS Jagan Mohan Reddy said the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) regrets supporting the 2023 law governing appointments of Election Commissioners and called for a selection process involving the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and the Chief Justice of India. The former Andhra Pradesh chief minister made the comments at a press conference on October 18. He said the appointment process should be independent of the government in power and argued that including the Chief Justice would help ensure neutrality. He also called for State Election Commissioners to be appointed through a neutral mechanism rather than one controlled by chief ministers or ruling governments. Under the 2023 law, the selection committee comprises the Prime Minister, a Union cabinet minister nominated by the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha. Jagan’s proposed panel would replace the minister with the Chief Justice, who was part of an earlier interim arrangement. YSRCP had supported the law in Parliament. Jagan also accused Andhra Pradesh’s ruling TDP-led coalition of using intimidation and police machinery to obstruct opposition candidates filing nominations for local-body...