Protests across the Telangana over deletion of names
The voters protested, saying that their names were deleted despite having voter identity cards.
Hyderabad: Voters across constituencies complained that their names were missing from the voters’ list when they turned up at polling booths on Friday. A large number of people who claimed to be voters staged protests in Shantinagar, Pattarghatti and Bhukthapur.
Some people blocked a road in Adilabad, alleging that their names were deleted due to political pressures. They alleged that it was a deliberate attempt in favor of the TRS government and its candidates. Similar scenes were witnessed in Jang-aon wher the agitators staged a protest on the Hyderabad-Hanmakonda highway.
Disappointed voters in Wanaparthy demanded that government remove their names from the census as well. They even confronted officials, demanding the reason for deletion of their names from the electoral rolls.
“Around 60 voters from Arun Colony falling under Uppal constituency were turned away. The number was higher from other neighbouring colonies. The GHMC polling officer said our station was at Gandhinagar. On reaching there, the officer asked us to go to Kapra Zilla Parishad Colony. We were turned away from four polling centres,” said Mr Charles Allaby, a resident of Arun Colony.
“Our family is from Begumpet which is now under Kukatpally constituency. We voted in the GHMC elections in 2016 and have voter IDs. We have been living in the area from 2010. After our names were deleted, we reapplied, but without verification, we were deleted from the voters’ list,” said Ms Tejaswini Pagadala.
Mr Suresh Kumar, general secretary, Anand Bagh Resident Welfare Association, alleged that several voters’ names were missing from the list in Anandbagh,Vishnupuri and other colonies of Malkajgiri constituency. He said senior citizens who had been voting for the 40 years were surprised to see their names missing. “Although officers are required to go door to door to update the voters’ list, this was not done. This was to benefit the ruling party,” he alleged.
Over 1,000 voters found their names missing from a polling booth in Filmnagar Club in Jubilee Hills. The citizens said that their names were deleted even though they hold voter identity cards. These scenes were reported in at least one polling booth across 119 Assembly constituencies.
On the flip-side, citizens in Kukatpally assembly constituency complained that two houses in Bharatnagar had 68 voters and another house had 74. Residents lamented that there were several discrepancies in voter enumeration and alleged that officials had worked at the behest of the TRS government.