Ponnam dares Ramchander Rao to debate alleged voter deletions

Hyderabad: Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar on Sunday challenged BJP State president N Ramchandra Rao to announce a date and time for a face-off over alleged deletions of eligible voters, particularly those belonging to SC, ST, BC and minority communities, during voter list revision.

Prabhakar said he was ready to present affected individuals along with supporting evidence. He urged Rao to accept the challenge and asked the Election Commission to investigate alleged irregularities and ensure that no eligible citizen was deprived of voting rights.

“Name the date and time. I will bring before you those who are worried about losing their voting rights, along with the necessary evidence,” he said, criticising the BJP leadership for questioning concerns over voter list revision instead of supporting efforts to rectify errors.

The minister alleged large-scale deletions, claiming that 13 crore votes had been lost nationwide, including 40 lakh in Hyderabad and 70 lakh across Telangana. These figures require verification through official Election Commission records.

He also alleged that an attempt had been made to delete his vote over a discrepancy in his father’s name, reportedly recorded as “Sattaiah” instead of “Satyanarayana Goud”. He said he was ready to submit documents establishing his identity.

Prabhakar demanded that the Election Commission disclose the number of deleted entries, reasons for their removal, and whether eligible voters had been mistakenly excluded.

He said poor people, senior citizens, illiterate individuals and daily-wage workers should not be forced to make repeated visits to government offices to protect their voting rights. Referring to an interview involving former Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu, he called for scrutiny of concerns over voter registration and identity documents. Calling for a transparent and impartial revision process, Prabhakar urged citizens to unite under the slogan, “Save the Vote, Save the Country — Protect Democracy, Protect the Constitution,” asserting that no eligible voter should lose their democratic right.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

The Hans India