It has been 13 days since the conclusion of the TANA elections, and the transfer of power to the winning team has not been executed by the outgoing team. There is turmoil within TANA, as the defeated group refuses to accept their defeat, alleging numerous discrepancies that they claim have led to an incorrect result.
The major allegation is that the voting was done from India as well, which is a breach of bylaws. At the same time, there were also alleged discrepancies, such as more than two votes being cast from one phone number, which is also a violation, and those votes cannot be counted.
The claim of one group is that there are about 35,000 members in TANA. Whatever the number be, they lack an elderly figure who could command respect and leadership, laments a member stating that everybody feels like a feudal and dictating terms forming his own group. Even the seniors with a neutral image have taken sides, making the situation unsolvable.
At this juncture, many assume that the issue would go to the Court of Law, which speaks less about the credibility of the unity of members.
In this connection, Dr. Hanumaiah Bandla, the Chairman of TANA BoD, mentioned in his general mail to every TANA member- "The TANA elections concluded on the 17th of this month, and the results were disclosed to all the contestants on the 18th. The certified results from the NEC (Nominations and Elections Committee) were transmitted to the BOD (Board of Directors) on the 19th and promptly published on our website on the 20th of January.
In adherence to our election procedures, contestants were granted 48 hours to challenge the results. TANA BoD received numerous challenges from the contestants within the stipulated timeframe. On the 23rd, the BOD convened to review these challenges and unanimous decision was made to seek answers to the questions raised from both the NEC and Election Trust, the entity responsible for conducting the elections.
This decision was communicated to the NEC on the 24th, and the NEC officially transmitted the queries to the Election Trust on the 25th of this month. Once the BOD receives the information, a meeting will be scheduled promptly to adjudicate the challenges, and you will be promptly informed of the decisions made."
On the other hand, there are also opinions that TDP head Chandrababu or Lokesh Naidu may intervene and settle the issue, as TANA is TDP's allied association. However, they are busy with their election activities in Andhra Pradesh and are not getting involved much, other than Lokesh expressing wishes for the winning team on social media.
Nobody knows when and how this issue will be settled. The irony is that there are also allegations regarding the total number of TANA members, as many members in the same association point out that a majority of them are fake memberships.
When there is no unity among the members of TANA, how can they claim to be the force behind the unity of Telugus in the USA, quip many.
