Senior Congress leader and former Minister Marri Sashidhar Reddy called upon Congress cadres to be alert on deletions and additions in electoral rolls in the wake of so many irregularities coming to light in the recently published voters’ lists in Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation limits.
In the GHMC limits 22 lakh votes were missing and when the Congress party fought against, what he called ‘apparent deliberate omissions’, names of 10 lakh voters were restored. He alleged that it was done by officials at the behest of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and when the Congress had brought it to the notice of Election Commission of India it sent a 14-member official team to go into the veracity. At a press conference here on Monday Mr. Sashidhar Reddy said the voters’ lists in 83 rural Assembly constituencies should have been finalised by the end of December and published in January. However, the process was delayed and as per the revised schedule the second review of the lists would be held on February 11. After receiving objections the final lists would be published on March 15.
Elections to the panchayat raj institutions would be held only after the publication of final voters’ list, he said and demanded the Government of conducting direct elections to sarpanch posts. He said one or two percent vote difference would also decide the fate of sarpanch and therefore his party was keenly watching the omissions and commissions in the preparation of voters’ lists.
He demanded the Chief Electoral Officer of providing the lists of deleted voters and also draft copies of the final lists to the Opposition parties. “If democracy needs to be strengthened everything must be transparent and name of no eligible voter should be deleted from the rolls,” he added.
“I have been going round all districts to enlighten Congress cadres on the preparatory process and to be wary of the machinations of the ruling party leaders to have an advantage in elections,” said Mr. Reddy, who is the party in-charge on electoral rolls. Former Speaker K.R. Suresh Reddy, MLC Akula Lalitha, ex-MLC Arkala Narsa Reddy, Niranjan, DCC president Taher Bin Hamdan, PCC general secretaries B. Mahesh Kumar Goud and Gadugu Gangadhar were among those who were present.
