Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], October 27 (ANI): Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) spokesperson Manne Krishank on Tuesday alleged irregularities and administrative lapses in the graduate voter enrolment process for the Telangana Legislative Council elections and urged the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) to officially extend the November 6 deadline.
Speaking to ANI, Krishank accused the Congress of double standards on electoral issues, alleging that despite the party’s nationwide campaign against alleged electoral malpractice, similar concerns had emerged in Telangana over the enrolment process for graduate constituency MLC elections.
“Rahul Gandhi ji and the entire Congress party make a lot of noise about the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and voting practices, talking about ‘vote chori’ and ‘vote bachao, desh bachao’. But every time there is an electoral exercise in Telangana, similar malpractice occurs, be it SIR or the current Graduate Constituency MLC elections,” he said.
Krishank alleged that the enrolment process had several shortcomings and that the multiple verification requirements were discouraging eligible graduate voters from registering. He claimed that around five lakh voters who had previously enrolled in Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy and Mahabubnagar were now required to register again.
“The previous voters who have enrolled their vote around 5 lakhs in Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy and Mahbubnagar have been null and void now because they are asked to come and enrol again,” he said.
He further questioned the procedures followed despite the promotion of digital enrolment, alleging that voters were being asked to appear before Booth Level Officers (BLOs) to present their certificates, followed by another round of verification by Electoral Registration Officers (EROs).
“And when they have encouraged the digital enrolment, number two, the BLO is asking the voters to come and show their certificates. The voter is not able to give so much time multiple times, and till now they do not have information on which BLO has been assigned,” Krishank said.
The BRS spokesperson said the party had requested the CEO to extend the November 6 deadline, arguing that the time available was insufficient and that the number of registered voters remained significantly lower than during the previous enrolment exercise.
Krishank said, “Requested the CEO, the Chief Election Officer, to extend the date because November 6th is a short time and the number of people who have enrolled is still not even one-tenth of the previous time.”
Krishank added that the CEO had indicated that the enrolment period would be extended but stressed that the decision should be formally announced and placed on record. He also alleged that the Election Commission had not undertaken adequate awareness campaigns to encourage eligible graduates to enrol.
“So the CEO has been saying that the enrollment procedure will be extended, but it should be official; it should be on record. They should give a statement. And there is zero campaign, zero motivation, zero awareness from the Election Commission’s side for the graduate voters to come and enroll their vote,” he said.
He said the BRS had raised several concerns over the process and called on the Congress government in Telangana to ensure that the officials involved in voter registration addressed the alleged shortcomings.
He said the BRS had raised several concerns regarding the process and accused the Congress of using electoral issues for political purposes rather than addressing the alleged administrative shortcomings. Krishank also called on the Telangana government to ensure that the officials involved in the enrolment process facilitated voter registration.
“So, these entire categorical points have been raised by the BRS party. But the only thing is, the Congress party engages in theatrics; they try to do this for politics. But if they really have sincerity towards the enrollment procedure, then they should also ensure that their state government functionaries—which are the BLOs—should be in the machinery where they can immediately ensure that the enrollment is done,” he added. (ANI)
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