Missing names put EC in a spot in Telangana

​Hyderabad: Ahead of the Assembly elections, the deletion of nearly 28 lakh votes from the electoral list in Telangana has put the Election Commission of India (ECI) in a spot. With mounting pressure from opposition parties on the deletion of votes, the Commission has taken up an internal inquiry to find the reasons for the mass deletion of the voters.

On the instructions of the ECI, State Chief Electoral Officer EO initiated measures to rectify the errors, if any, in the deletion of the voters. The government agencies involved in the revision of the voters in the previous enrolment drive were already asked explanation whether the votes were deleted accidentally or deliberately. As per the official records, the total number of voters in the state was 2,61,36,776 in 2018 as against 2,89,73,795. The total number of votes deleted are 28,36,989.

Officials said that during the scrutiny, it came to the notice of the commission that the voters belonging to neighbouring Andhra Pradesh were deleted in the Seemandhra dominated assembly constituencies in the state. Mass exodus of Andhra people to their native places after the bifurcation of the state could be one of the reasons for the mass deletion of the votes from the electoral list.

In Quthbullapur alone, which is one of the biggest assembly constituencies in terms of total number of voters in the country, nearly 1,67,727 votes were deleted. In 2014, the total number of voters in the segment were 6,01,248. In Kukatpally constituency, 1,57 lakh votes were deleted out of the total 4.67 lakh votes. In LB Nagar segment – 64,000, Sherlingmpalli – 48,000 and in Goshamahal constituency 59,000 votes were deleted.

In Goshamahal most of the votes were deleted as they came from North India for livelihood and left the city recently.
The other reason is during the door-to-door voter verification programme conducted, the officials could not find the names mentioned in the voters list from the same residences as most of them shifted to other places. The EC already prepared a specified pro forma helping the shifted voters to register their names in the new localities they are dwelling. Returning officers were instructed to take up mass drive to enrol the names of the shifted voters ensuring their names should not go missing at the time of elections.

The CEO is already holding series of meetings and the authorities will come to a conclusion on the deletion of the voters’ names in a week’s time. The officials clarified that the deletion of the voters is common during the verification of the electoral rolls to be taken up every year. At the time of election season, such errors will be rectified and ensure every citizen exercise his adult franchise without any failure in the elections.