Published Oct 18, 2026 | 6:58 PM ⚊ Updated Oct 18, 2026 | 6:58 PM
Jagan called for impartial appointments to electoral bodies and alleged that the results of the last elections in AP had been manipulated.
Synopsis: YSRCP president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has called for an overhaul of the Election Commission at the national and State levels, admitting that his party was wrong to support the NDA in pushing through the CEC and Other ECs Act, 2023. He said he opposed a system in which ruling parties could effectively choose the officials overseeing elections in which they themselves were contestants. The YSRCP, he said, had recognised its mistake and was seeking a change to restore neutrality in electoral appointments.
Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has called for a complete overhaul of the Election Commission at the national and State levels, admitting that his party was wrong to support the NDA in pushing through the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023.
The former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, addressing a press conference on Sunday, 18 October, said the YSRCP had recognised its mistake and was seeking a change to restore neutrality in electoral appointments.
Though not formally part of the NDA, the YSRCP has long maintained a calculated ambivalence towards the BJP. Jagan’s candid admission effectively endorses the long-standing position of opposition parties outside the NDA: that the Act effectively gave the Union government complete control over the appointment process.
He said he opposed a system in which ruling parties could effectively choose the officials overseeing elections in which they themselves were contestants. A ruling party should not be allowed to decide who oversees such elections, he said, drawing a comparison with a student appointing the examiner who evaluates their examination.
Even an honest examiner, he said, would face questions about their impartiality under such an arrangement. Electoral appointments must instead follow a neutral process.
He also called for transparent and impartial appointments to electoral bodies and alleged that the results of the last elections in Andhra Pradesh had been manipulated.
Jagan said the YSRCP and pro-democracy advocates had brought irregularities in Andhra Pradesh to public attention, arguing that electoral institutions could not command public trust without changes to the process through which their heads were appointed.
Jagan proposed that Election Commissioners be appointed through a collective decision by a three-member panel comprising the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and the Chief Justice of India (CJI), with the decision taken by a vote.
The proposal would restore the mechanism in place before the CEC and Other ECs Act, 2023, which replaced the CJI with a Union Cabinet Minister nominated by the Prime Minister.
Jagan said the arrangement sidelines an independent constitutional authority and gives the executive a majority in choosing the country’s top election officials.
He said the CJI’s presence would prevent unilateral appointments of the CEC. Under the current system, the Prime Minister and a Cabinet Minister nominated by him hold two votes, leaving the Opposition with only one, he said.
Jagan said the same underlying problem affected State Election Commissions, where the Chief Minister should not have the power to appoint the State Election Commissioner.
When the government in power controls the appointment of the official responsible for overseeing elections, the independence of the electoral body comes into question, he said.
Calling this a systemic flaw, he said the electoral system would not improve until the appointment process was corrected.
Jagan said public trust in democracy could be restored only by overhauling these institutions and ensuring that those who oversee elections were chosen through an impartial process.
(Edited by Dese Gowda with inputs from Sarath Chandra B)
