Congress leader Shashidhar Reddy suggests all-party meet to discuss GHMC elections amid COVID-19

Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], September 25 : Senior Congress leader Marri Shashidhar Reddy on Friday held a meeting with the Chief Election Commissioner of Telangana State to discuss the options to conduct Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections safely amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and said that an all-party meeting should be conducted in this regard.
Reddy said that both ballot boxes and EVMs have an equal chance of further spreading the coronavirus infection and a meeting should be held to discuss the mode of elections and gather opinions of different political parties.
While speaking to ANI, Reddy said "The state election commission has sought the opinion of the political parties as to which method of election is to be followed to conduct the GHMC municipal elections. The two options are ballot boxes and EVMs and I pointed out the pros and cons of both the methods in a meeting with state chief election commissioner, today."
"The risk of infection is in both EVMs and ballots, but now it's time to decide which option is safer for the voters during this pandemic situation. The Election Commission has sought the opinions of all parties and an all-party meeting should be conducted in this matter," he added.
Reddy added that for Congress, safety is of utmost importance and that the opinions of experts will also be taken in view of the public's safety.
"For Congress party, people's safety is of paramount importance, so we will wait for the decision to be made. On behalf of the party, we will consult experts at the national level and express our opinion," he said.