Amaravati, Oct 28 (IANS): Incumbent YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) in Andhra Pradesh has boycotted the meeting with the State Election Commissioner (SEC) Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar on Wednesday, said senior party leader and Sattenapalli MLA Ambati Rambabu on Tuesday.

Kumar convened one-on-one meetings with political parties in the southern state as he aims to conduct the local body elections, which have already been postponed more than once.

The SEC gave time to parties from 10.30 a.m. on Wednesday in his office to elicit their opinion on conducting the hustings.

However, Rambabu said Kumar should have perused the Supreme Court (SC) verdict before meeting parties.

"To resume an election process which ceased once, SC said that the state government's opinion should be taken to proceed further. But the SEC has ignored this," alleged Rambabu.

Amid the Covid pandemic, he said Kumar didn't care to consult with the chief secretary or the health and family welfare secretary about the possibility of conducting elections but got ready to talk with political parties, which according to him points at the intentions Kumar has.

"In this atmosphere, it is not wise to attend the meeting. Ignoring the SC verdict and calling parties for one-to-one meetings is part of Nimaggada - Chandrababu politics," he asserted.

Touching upon the issue of elections amid Coronavirus pandemic, Rambabu said when there were not even three infections in the state, which political parties did Kumar ask to defer the elections?

"Currently, when 3,000 cases are getting recorded and when some people are getting reinfected, Kumar was asking if elections could be held? You can understand the motivations behind it and the people behind it" he pointed out.

The ruling party orator claimed that though the YSRCP is confident of winning 100 per cent seats in the elections, which according to him everybody knows, still it is thinking about the safety of each and every voter.

He questioned if Kumar will shoulder the responsibility of the safety of 3 crore voters and election staff such as teachers, police and government employees?

In the second of the two letters the SEC wrote after postponing the elections earlier this year, Rambabu said Kumar levelled several allegations which cannot even be talked about.

He said YSRCP rejects Kumar's anti-government dispensation, allegedly considering his dissatisfaction with the ruling party and partisan attitude.

"When such a person convenes a meeting in contravention to the SC verdict, without consulting the government, YSRCP rejects his dispensation," he said.

Rambabu claimed that Kumar is known as a person who holds dark meetings in Hyderabad five star hotels. He said Kumar does not think about elections as a constitutional responsibility but made a drama out of it.

A few months ago, when Covid was yet to strike India with full force, Kumar postponed the elections, earning flak from the Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy.

Though the state government later tried sacking the SEC, the court reinstated him, considering the Constitutional protection accorded to the SEC's office.

The relationship between the SEC and the government continues to be in doldrums.