Visakhapatnam, Sept. 28 -- Andhra Pradesh Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president Palla Srinivasa Rao has come out strongly in defence of the Election Commission of India (ECI), dismissing the Congress party's allegations against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar and the poll body as "politically motivated and baseless".

Palla Srinivasa Rao stated that the allegations levelled by the Congress carry no weight and are driven by a political agenda. He emphasised that the ECI is an independent, autonomous constitutional body that must be respected by all.

He reminded that India has a proud tradition of conducting free and fair elections, and managing an electorate of nearly 97 crore voters is a mammoth task. He lauded the ECI for e...