Huge number of bogus voters raise eyebrows

Tirupati: In the run-up to the upcoming general elections, Tirupati and Chandragiri constituencies have become focal points of controversy due to concerns over the integrity of the electoral rolls. The dubious inclusion of fraudulent votes during the Tirupati Lok Sabha byelection in 2021 initially sparked concern, capturing national attention and subsequently led to the suspension of a few revenue and police officials. However, far from subsiding, the issue of mass fraudulent voter enrolment has persisted, compounded by a series of fresh allegations.

Opposition parties, notably the TDP, have taken a serious stance on the matter, highlighting various irregularities and making a mockery of the prevailing situation. It's worth noting that in the 2019 election, TDP candidate M Sugunamma narrowly lost to YSRCP’s Bhumana Karunakar Reddy by a margin of just 708 votes.

Amid accusations of over 30,000 bogus enrolments, the TDP is sparing no effort in its endeavour to secure victory in the upcoming election. Party leaders, including Tirupati parliamentary president G Narasimha Yadav and constituency in-charge M Sugunamma, have been diligently visiting different areas daily, exposing flaws in the electoral rolls.

Among the identified lapses are numerous instances of double entries, where individuals appear twice in the final electoral rolls. Additionally, there have been cases of multiple votes being created using the same photo, with same names are there with surnames at one place and with initials at some other place. Instances of individuals possessing two votes with different Epic numbers have also been found, alongside the inclusion of deceased persons' names in the rolls and discrepancies in address details.

Further complicating matters are errors such as the mention of street names instead of door numbers and instances where door numbers are erroneously listed as ‘00,’ hindering verification efforts. In one case, 32 voters were purportedly enrolled in a single house in a scavengers’ colony, despite there being only two residents. Despite appearing in both the draft and final lists released on December 22, these voters were later divided into subdivisions in a fresh list, a process typically requiring submission of Form-8, raising suspicions of foul play.

TDP leaders have asserted that these discrepancies point to the presence of bogus voters. They have also uncovered instances such as 27 fraudulent votes in the residence of a YSRCP leader in Rajiv Gandhi colony and a case where a Corporator was found to possess two votes.

In another alarming revelation, 22 deceased individuals were listed as voters at a polling center. TDP leaders have even alleged that individuals afflicted with leprosy, who have come to Tirupati for treatment from other areas, have been granted voting rights.

Now, the focus turns to whether electoral officials will take decisive action to rectify these lapses before the impending announcement of the election schedule.