Chief Electoral Officer orders 'reverification' of deleted voters for upcoming GHMC polls

Hyderabad: In a significant development, Chief Electoral Officer Bhanwarlal has ordered “reverification” of all voters whose names were deleted in the 24 Assembly segments of GHMC.

He said that a number of complaints had been received from political parties as well as from voters stating that large-scale deletions had taken place in respect of existing voters. He, however, clarified that Wednesday’s orders had nothing to do with any instruction from the Election Commission (EC).

It may be recalled that several Opposition parties had approached the EC complaining against Mr Bhanwarlal and former GHMC commissioner Somesh Kumar over arbitrary deletion of several lakhs of existing voters without proper verification, that too selectively.

Based on these complaints, the EC had deputed a high-level official team, which conducted spot checks in four Assembly segments in the GHMC area. The team has also reportedly submitted their findings to EC.

However, Mr Bhanwarlal said orders for fresh reverification on Wednesday was not due to any instruction from EC. He said GHMC authorities were presently conducting a door-to-door survey for identification of BC voters for the purpose of the GHMC elections.

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