Tirupati bogus voting case regains momentum after a long pause

Tirupati: The ghost of bogus voting that haunted the 2021 Tirupati Lok Sabha by-election has returned to the political spotlight, with investigators resuming a probe that had gone cold for months.

A special team, recently deputed by the Election Commission (EC), has stepped into the temple town to piece together evidence of large-scale electoral fraud that once stirred a storm in Andhra Pradesh politics.

The renewed scrutiny follows a review meeting chaired by District Collector Dr S Venkateswar, where officials took stock of the pending cases before submitting a status report to the EC. A senior officer from Anantapur has been entrusted with leading the fact-finding exercise, which includes examining voter application forms, approval records, and the roles of booth-level officers (BLOs), revenue staff, election DTs, ERVOs, and RDOs. Questioning of these personnel is slated for the coming days.

The case itself traces back to April 2021 by-poll, when allegations surfaced that thousands of fake votes had been inserted into the rolls.

Back then, Deputy Municipal Commissioner Chandramouliswara Reddy and several revenue officials were suspended for allegedly enabling the enrolment of bogus voters in favour of the then ruling party. The EC, calling the offence ‘extremely serious,’ directed that all those involved, directly or indirectly, be nailed down.

One glaring incident from that election continues to symbolise the controversy. On polling day, April 17, 2021, a 21-year-old youth was caught at Scavengers Colony Municipal High School attempting to cast a vote with someone else’s EPIC card and voter slip. Although opposition workers handed him over to the police, the case was booked only under bailable sections of the IPC (171F and 188), sparking criticism that the offence was deliberately downplayed.

Investigators later noted that crucial lapses followed – polling staff and eyewitnesses were never questioned, and forged voter and Aadhaar cards were not seized. The controversy also spilled over into the police force. Last year, the EC cracked the whip on officers accused of soft-pedalling the investigation, despite evidence suggesting that nearly 34,000 fake EPIC cards had been printed and used.

Thirteen criminal cases were initially registered after opposition complaints, but most were closed for ‘lack of evidence,’ raising eyebrows across political circles.

With the new team revisiting old files and testimonies, officials say the spotlight will now be on how the earlier probe was compromised and whether accountability can finally be fixed. The EC has sought a conclusive report in the coming weeks, a move that could once again heat up the State’s political landscape.