Curious case of disputed villages: Telangana launches programs to prevent dual voting

Adilabad: Telangana poll authorities have launched awareness programmes on the rules of the Election Commission of India especially the one that restricts an elector from voting multiple times in a given election.

Awareness programmes are being conducted by local Revenue officials and staff in villages that fall under five polling stations located in the disputed territory along the border Telangana-Maharashtra border.

The dozen villages are located in Kerameri Mandal of Kumram Bheem Asifabad district which is part of the Adilabad (ST) Parliamentary constituency in Telangana as well as Jivti taluka which is a part of Chandrapur PC in Maharashtra. Almost all voters in these villages under the polling stations of Parandoli, Mukadamguda, Bolapathar, Anthapur, and Gowri hold Elector'sPhoto Identity Card (EPIC) from both States.

These electors usually cast their votes in all elections held on either side of the interstate border. In the current election to Lok Sabha, the trend does not seem to be any different. Therefore, Election authorities in Telangana have launched special efforts to uphold the concerned rules.

Kumram Bheem Asifabad district Collector and Assistant Returning Officer, Venkatesh Dhotre has urged voters to exercise their franchise only in one place. Asifabad RDO Lokesh Vanapalli held a meeting with Kerameri Revenue officials and formulated a plan to circulate the message about the concerned rule of the Election Commission in Both Telugu and Marathi.

The message sent to the voters also included the fact that polling in Telangana would be held in the fourth phase on May 13. This was expected to help the electors in choosing only one constituency to exercise their franchise, the RDO told NewsMeter.