The revision of voters’ lists is snowballing into a controversy ahead of the announcement of the election schedule in Srikakulam and Vizianagaram districts.
A ‘mechanical approach’ on the part of election officials in Srikakulam district has led to allocation of voting booths in far off places, as well as random deletion of voters from the lists, complain opposition parties.
It is estimated that over 5 lakh out of 27 lakh people in Srikakulam district had migrated to cities like Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad but do not bother to inform local officials for deletion of their names back home, say officials.
Election officials say the reason behind not intimating local officials is due to a fear of losing out on ration and other benefits given under welfare schemes if people don’t have local voting rights.
Random deletions
Mandavilli Meena of Balijepallivari Street was struck off the list after a revision. Ms. Meena had voted in the 2009 and 2014 elections but now risks the possibility of not getting to cast her vote. Same is the case with Mindi Suryanarayana who lives near Fazulbagh.
The figure of 1.14 lakh voters in Srikakulam town limits came down to 97,000 after revision, a sharp drop, which officials say is due to the large exodus of migrants. However, migration is less in Srikakulam town as compared to the district, say locals.
Another issue is the allocation of booths at a far distance. Andhavarapu Srikanth used to vote at Booth 183 but will now have to go to Booth 169 to vote. Majji Rekha cast her vote at Booth 168 but now will have to vote at Booth 175 near the MDO’s office.
"Voting is a fundamental right but it is being denied," said former Minister Dharmana Prasada Rao, alleging that the TDP had a role to play in the deletion of YSRCP’s supporters from the voting lists.
Officials denied the allegations and said that they had taken maximum care in revision of the lists. "Deletion of 20,000 names would not be a big issue since Srikakulam constituency has spread up to Gara mandal," Joint Collector K.V.N. Chakradhar Babu told The Hindu.
