Names of Nearly 40 Lakh Voters May Be Deleted During SIR in Andhra Pradesh

 Anantapur: Names of nearly 40 lakh voters in Andhra Pradesh – double enrolled voters in other states as well as AP, and those who have died after 2002 – are expected to be deleted during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in the state.

Political party analysts believe majority of these deletions from voters’ list will be in municipalities and corporations. Eliminations will be in lesser numbers in gram panchayats and rural areas. This is because voters who have enrolled twice due to migration will continue their votes in their native villages.

The SIR exercise is aimed at removing duplicate, deceased, migrant, and other ineligible entries to ensure that electoral rolls are clean and only eligible voters on the rolls.

In Rayalaseema, there is a peculiar situation along the borders of Karnataka. There are thousands of voters from AP, who have also enrolled themselves in Karnataka where they work. Implementation of SIR simultaneously in AP and Karnataka will lead to removal of duplicate votes, as the voters will have to choose only one place.

Sources said at least 13,000 deletions could be there in Madakasira assembly segment which is almost surrounded by Karnataka.

Further, thousands of families, mainly farm labourers, have migrated from Kurnool, Anantapur, and Satya Sai districts to Bangalore for earning their livelihoods. A senior Telugu Desam leader from Madakasira assembly segment said the migrated voters, though also enrolled in Karnataka’s voters’ list, will choose to be voters in their native places in AP, because welfare schemes available are better in their state than Karnataka.

The TD leader analysed SIR’s impact in urban areas, mainly district headquarters. According to him, polling has never crossed 55 per cent in Kurnool city in different elections. This is because voters, though also enrolled in the city, choose to cast their votes in their native villages.

Leaders are estimating 40 lakh voter deletions in AP on the basis of two crore voter names being deleted in UP, followed by 93 lakh in Bihar.

Political parties are advising migrant voters to submit necessary documentation to continue as voters in their native villages. They are directing them to opt for deletion of their names in voters list in urban areas like Bangalore city, if their names are enrolled there.