Allegations have surfaced about unauthorised shifting of certain areas from one division to another for GHMC elections.
Independent contestants from the Ramnagar division have pointed out that five polling stations have been shifted from Ramnagar division to Musheerabad division without any notification.
The polling stations numbered from 29 to 33, all within the St.Pious School building, were part of the Ramnagar division in 2016 elections, but have been moved to Musheerabad this time round, alleged Krupavaram G., an independent contestant from Ramnagar. These stations represent several areas such as Medarbasti, Gemini Colony, Shastri Nagar, Pochammagudi, Bakaram and others, he said. “They include over 5,000 voters, a number that could change the fate of the contestants,” he noted.
While such adjustments are to be only carried out under the delimitation exercise, no such exercise has been undertaken before elections, hence it is illegal, he contends. “All mainstream political parties kept silent about this in the circle- level meeting. We independents had no voice,” he said.
Enquiries with Election Authority D.S.Lokesh Kumar about the issue did not yield any response.