The counting of votes in the elections for the state Youth Congress president’s post was taken up amidst heavy police bandobust on Saturday at a star hotel on Lower Tank Bund Road. It was attended by hundreds of supporters of the 26 candidates in the fray.
Of the 31,645 votes polled in the elections conducted on July 11 and 12, Mr Vamsi Chand Reddy secured 13,700 votes, Mr Anil Kumar Yadav, son of Secunderabad MP Anjan Kumar Yadav 6,326, Mr Ravi Kumar Yadav, son of Serilingampally MLA Bikshapathi Yadav 6,167 votes and Mr Pururava Reddy, son of Sanathnagar MLA Marri Sasidhar Reddy 616 votes.
As per the new norms, the candidate with the most votes will be the president and successive candidates will be first vice-president, second vice-president, general secretary and so on.
Speaking to newsmen at the counting centre, Mr Vamsi Reddy said that he owed his victory to Mr Rahul Gandhi who had been trying to improve the image of the Youth Congress. “I will try my best to keep up with the aspirations and hopes of Rahul Gandhi in running the Youth Congress in the state,” he said.
Referring to the cases against him, he said there was no question of the election being rejected as his nomination had been declared valid by the returning officer.
Mr K.J. Rao, who is currently advisor to the Youth Congress, said that a final declaration of the results would be made on Thursday.
He told this correspondent that they had received several complaints against Mr Vamsi Reddy and other candidates in the fray and the party’s legal officers were closely scrutinising them.
“I know about the complaints; Vamsi Chand Reddy was booked for some serious crime in 2010 regarding his alleged involvement in the attacks against Reliance malls in the city, but no chargesheet has been filed against him so far. It is true he was suspended from the party which was later revoked. He has also done some good work for the party, otherwise why was his suspension lifted?” he asked.
When specifically asked about the reforms in the Youth Congress which strictly prohibit persons with criminal backgrounds, Mr Rao said, “It is a fact, but we have to study case by case; we have set a rule that no person, either already convicted or facing criminal charges for offences to which the punishment is above five years imprisonment, can contest.
"But I have studied his (Vamsi) cases and the punishment, in case he is convicted, will be below five years imprisonment. We even hear similar complaints against Ravi Yadav. Anyway, after obtaining legal opinion, we may declare the results on Thursday.”