Telangana: Over 1.32L voters enrolled in 2 days; Congress alleges lapses

Hyderabad: As many as 1,32, 036 new voters have been enrolled during a special campaign held in Telangana on Sunday.

Even the 15 Assembly Constituencies within the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) jurisdiction also saw a huge response. There were about 15,044 applications under Form-7 registering objects to proposed inclusion or deletion of names in existing voter rolls. About 42,640 applications were received under Form -8 for shifting of residence or correction of entries.

Complaints received from 4 areas:

Several complaints were received from Bahadurpura, Goshamahal, Nampally, and Serilingampalli assembly constituencies.

Chief Electoral Officer of Telangana Vikas Raj held a review meeting aimed at meticulously addressing complaints. The meeting was conducted, encompassing a detailed scrutiny of all pertinent records.

During the meeting, CEO Vikas Raj issued clear directives to the District Election Officers of the GHMC area to conduct a comprehensive examination of each complaint received. He emphasized the significance of diligent verification of all aspects raised in the complaints and promptly implementing corrective measures. He called for a detailed report outlining the actions taken in response to each complaint.

The Chief Electoral Officer also instructed the DEOs in the VC conducted later to immediately respond to complaints forwarded from the CEO's office and the Election Commission of India (ECI). The urgency was underlined in providing factual reports to the CEO's office without any delay.

Applications under GHMC

The two-day special campaign on Saturday and Sunday recorded a turnout, with a total of 2,476 individuals submitting Form-6 applications to enroll as new voters. Additionally, 29 applications were received under Form 7 for objections to the proposed inclusion or deletion of names in the existing voter rolls.

A total of 476 applications were submitted under Form-8 to shift of residence or correction of GHMC Commissioner Ronald Ross spearheaded the two-day special campaign.

In total, the special campaign yielded 4,522 new voter applications, accompanied by 64 objections, and 869 applications for residence shifting or corrections in the current voter rolls.

3,986 Booth Level Officers (BLOs) had been appointed across the 3,986 polling stations in the 15 Assembly Constituencies.

Congress highlights on lapses:

In a letter to the CEO, TPCC Senior Vice President G Niranjan highlighted lapses in conducting the special campaign.

"The Booth Level Officers (BLOs) are expected to be available in their respective polling stations along with voters lists and relevant forms, from 10.30 am to 5 pm. However, we found that BLOs were not present in several polling stations on the first day. There was some improvement on the second day but not to the satisfaction," said Niranjan in the letter.

Congress alleged that in many polling stations, relevant forms were not available. The BLOs are unable to open the BLO App and insist that the voters open the helpline App on their mobiles and enter the details.

"Some of the BLOs were present with the old voter's lists without the latest draft voters lists published on 21st August 2023. The details of BLOs are not available on the CEO website since Saturday," the letter read.

The party requested to convene all parties meeting before the conduct of the second special campaign, which is to be held on September 2 and 3, to discuss the lapses and to rectify the same to have a purposeful special campaign.