The Telangana Congress sees a larger conspiracy behind the ‘deletion’ of over 21 lakh voters from the electoral rolls of Telangana and wants the Election Commission of India to ensure that no eligible voter is stripped of their right.
At a meeting of the senior Congress leaders attended by Leader of Opposition in Legislative Council, Mohammed Ali Shabbir and former PCC presidents Ponnala Lakshmaiah and V. Hanumantha Rao, TPCC president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy said the Election Commission should take a serious view of the names missing from the list. Similar issue came up during the GHMC elections, he said and alleged that those opposing TRS are being deleted from the list.
Later addressing a press conference, Mr. Reddy expressed serious concerns over the declining number of voters in Telangana. He pointed out that there about 2.81 crore voters in 2014 elections.
However, as per the draft rolls published by the Election Commission on India on September 1, 2018, their number has reduced to 2.60 crore. “Where have over 21 lakh voters gone?” he asked.
“The actual number of deletion in the last four years will be much higher if we add the number of fresh voters who enrolled themselves during revision of electoral rolls.
In the current year, nearly 8 lakh new voters have registered their names. Therefore, we seriously suspect that some forces have been tampering with the electoral rolls of Telangana,” he said.
Mr. Reddy also requested the Election Commission to ensure that electoral rolls are 100% correct and all eligible persons get their voting rights. In view of indications of early Assembly polls, the Election Commission too should make proper arrangements to ensure a free and fair elections, he said.
Further, he said on the lines of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, employees of Telangana should be trained in operating Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) and other electoral processes.
The TPCC chief said that a petition in the Supreme Court has been filed by Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh Congress seeking transparency in the voting process through EVMs. The TPCC too has decided to implead in the petition wherein a direction would be sought from the Supreme Court to the Election Commission to randomly verify VVPAT slips with EVM votes at 10% of polling stations in every constituency.
He alleged that the TRS has been trying to influence the voters using money and police force and asked the Election Commission to be extra-cautious in Telangana.