31 Lakh Voters Not ‘Collectable Forms’ in Telangana
Hundreds of voters to lose votes in each booth, BLOs seek to expedite process
Hyderabad: With a week left for completion of the enumeration phase, booth level officers (BLOs) are accelerating scrutiny of ‘uncollectable forms’ marked under the ASDDF (Absent, Shifted, Dead, Duplicate, Foreign) category for deletion from electoral rolls.
Officials said 31 lakh forms had been classified as uncollectable across Telangana as of Sunday, with 74.38 per cent of Enumeration Forms digitised. In Hyderabad, over 4.21 lakh forms have been received, with digitisation crossing 50 per cent.
Concerns have been raised in several constituencies over voters being marked under ASDDF before completion of due process. In Hyderabad district, where digitisation has crossed 51 per cent, BLOs and Booth Level Agents (BLAs) are reported to be under pressure to complete the exercise ahead of the August 3 deadline.
Estimates indicate that 300 to 600 voters per booth are yet to receive Enumeration Forms and risk deletion under the ASDDF category. In Khairatabad constituency, BLOs have sought BLA endorsements for lists of such voters, with some 500 to 600 persons marked as ‘shifted’.
“BLA signatures have been taken for the past couple of days, without BLOs even visiting three times to each household a mandatory norm. This is to meet criteria of 100 per cent delivery, towards winding up the activity despite a week remaining. Despite the extension of dates till August 3, the officials are pressing for endorsement. In Sriramnagar of Banjara Hills Road No.12, the polling booths 228 and 229 may lose 700 votes. In this way, Khairatabad constituency alone may lose up to 1 lakh votes,” said a BRS BLA, requesting anonymity.
In Karwan constituency, BLOs said 21 to 22 per cent of forms were being listed under the ASDDF category. “From the 1,400 forms which were handed over to me, there are no claimants for 300 forms. I am still waiting to hand them over. If no one claims for the next two or three days, they will be struck off (from the voter list),” said Srinivas, a BLO in Tolichowki.
Former corporator and Congress leader Md Wajid Hussain said party BLAs had been asked to sign voter lists along with BLOs but had refused. “I have asked them not to close this. Tomorrow there’s a meeting with ERO and the issue will be brought to his notice, as there is still time to conclude,” he said.
