Deleted voters in State should be restored immediately: BRS

Hanumakonda: Jangaon MLA Palla Rajeshwar Reddy and former minister Errabelli Dayakar Rao alleged that the BJP had benefited politically from the process of deleting votes in Telangana.

Speaking to media persons at the Telangana Bhavan in Hyderabad on Friday, they demanded that the names of eligible voters deleted in the state should be restored in the voter list immediately, and that a thorough investigation should be conducted into the matter and action should be taken against those responsible.

Palla Rajeshwar criticised the Election Commission for acting in collusion with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

He alleged that notices were issued to about 95 lakh voters in Telangana, and that 73 lakh voters were removed in the first phase and another 21 lakh voters in the second phase. The removal of voters in Telangana is a serious concern compared to other states. He said that the number of voters has decreased significantly in several constituencies including Serilingampalli, Karimnagar and Patancheru. He alleged that a large number of voters were removed in constituencies where BRS won.

Palla criticised that in the process of removing the names of those who died, those who changed their residence and those who were registered as voters in more than one place, the names of eligible voters were also removed from the list. He said that it is not right to issue notices and remove the right to vote on the grounds of spelling mistakes in names, differences in surnames and non-matching of the details in the old voter lists with the current ones.

He urged the Election Commission to take steps to ensure that every eligible citizen is given the right to vote.

Palla Rajeshwar Reddy alleged that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar is not acting independently. He demanded that an impartial inquiry be conducted into the issue of vote deletion to protect the credibility of the Election Commission, and that Gyanesh Kumar be removed from office and appropriate action be taken against the allegations made against him.

He appealed to the Supreme Court to intervene in this matter. He also asked the Congress government to take a clear stand on the issue of vote deletion and to answer the allegations that it is indirectly cooperating with the BJP.

Former Minister Errabelli Dayakar Rao said that the right to vote is the foundation of democracy and that not even a single eligible voter’s name should be removed unfairly. He demanded that strict action be taken against those responsible if negligence or irregularities are found in the removal of votes. He demanded that a comprehensive inquiry be conducted with a Supreme Court judge on this entire matter and the facts be presented before the public. He said that the responsibility lies with the relevant institutions to restore the names of the eligible voters who were removed and instill confidence in democracy.

Palla Rajeshwar Reddy made it clear that the BRS will continue its struggle until the names of the deleted eligible voters in Telangana are restored.

He announced that the BRS dharna to be held in front of the Election Commission has been postponed due to the festival. He revealed that a large-scale protest will be held on the next date.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

The Hans India