21,000 Telangana voters aged over 100 years, alleges Congress
HYDERABAD: There is a voter in Telangana who is 2,017 years old, or so claims the Congress. The grand old party has alleged that the voters’ list released by the Election Commission of India for Telangana has about 21,000 voters aged between 100 and 2,017 years!
The details were presented by the AICC secretary Abhishek Manu Singhvi at a press conference in New Delhi.
Singhvi slammed the Centre, State government and the Election Commission alleging that there were about 70 lakh discrepancies in the voters’ list. He did not rule out approaching the Supreme Court over the “unfair elections”. He claimed that the TRS had dissolved the Assembly prematurely to cash-in on these discrepancies in the list.
“Just like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chattisgarh, Telangana has a list of 70 lakh voters who either have duplicate names or missing names. The numbers are through our private investigation, one can imagine how much more could come to light if it is officially done,” Singhvi said.
Explaining further, he stated: “About 50 lakh voters have their names repeated across the voter’s list. Their names, age, sex, and even photos are the same. There is also duplication of 17 lakh voters from the 9 mandals of Khammam which the Andhra Pradesh and the Telangana share together. The comic if not a tragic aspect is that when we contacted the EC, we realised that both the States are claiming these 17 lakh voters.”
He demanded that a thorough process of verification and sanitisation of the voter list should be initiated before any elections could have been announced but the sad part is that only four weeks have been given. “Any election held on the basis of these deeply and deliberately flawed and inaccurate voter list would undermine the entire process and would lead to a distorted mandate. It would be a fraud on democracy and on the people of the country,’’ he pointed out. The revised electoral roll was published on September 10.
On September 14, when its leaders – M Shashidhar Reddy and Ravi Shankar Jandhyala – led a delegation to highlight the issues, the EC has chosen to maintain silence on the matter, he alleged.
“We reserve the Constitutional rights to approach the court and explore all legal possibilities but we want to go to the people’s court. We would be failing to do our duty as a national political party if we did not bring this to the notice of the people,” Singhvi said, adding that his party was “ready and raring to go for elections at any time.”
When we met the Chief Electoral Officer on September 14, he confirmed that they knew about the discrepancies. They said that it will take time for the list to be purified. How can they take time when it had to be done immediately,” asked Marri Shashidhar Reddy, TPCC chairperson.
courtesy : newindianexpress.com
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CM Siddaramaiah alleges ‘criminal conspiracy’ in Sringeri recount, vows legal action
Bengaluru (PTI): Alleging a “criminal conspiracy” by BJP candidate D N Jeevaraj in the Sringeri Assembly poll recounting, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said the outcome was manipulated after valid postal ballot votes in favour of Congress leader T D Raje Gowda were tampered with during the recounting process.
Following a Karnataka High Court order on an election petition filed by Jeevaraj, challenging Raje Gowda’s election, the reverification and recounting were conducted on Saturday.
After the reverification and recount of postal ballots for the Sringeri Assembly constituency, votes polled in favour of Raje Gowda were reduced by 255, the returning officer said.
A report on the matter has been submitted to the Election Commission of India for further action, the officer added.
Congress leader Raje Gowda had won the 2023 Assembly polls from Sringeri by 201 votes, defeating his nearest rival Jeevaraj.
Addressing a press conference in Bengaluru, Siddaramaiah said the High Court had directed the recounting of postal ballots and that irregularities were noticed during the exercise conducted on May 2.
“This is a clear case of criminal conspiracy,” Siddaramaiah said, alleging that valid votes cast in favour of Raje Gowda were altered after being accepted by counting agents of all parties, including Congress, BJP, and JD(S).
He claimed that during the recounting of postal ballots, 255 votes were initially accepted as valid by all agents but were later tampered with by subordinate officials.
“There is a second mark on the votes polled in favour of Raje Gowda. They had accepted these as valid votes. Subsequently, another mark was made by officials. This is a clear case of criminal conspiracy,” he said.
When asked who was behind the alleged conspiracy, the CM replied, “It was hatched by Jeevaraj and others. It is planned.”
Siddaramaiah further alleged that the returning officer acted improperly by declaring the result despite the presence of an Election Commission observer during the recounting.
“Immediately after the counting, the returning officer announced the result. He should not have done so; this is against the law,” he said.
He pointed out that Raje Gowda had originally won by 201 votes, but after the recounting, the BJP candidate was declared the winner by 52 votes.
“The BJP has committed a criminal act of conspiracy. This is not vote chori but vote dacoity,” he alleged.
The CM said a police complaint had already been filed by Raje Gowda’s election agent, Sudhir Kumar, and emphasised the need for electoral integrity.
“We want transparency and free and fair elections. That is what our Constitution mandates,” he added.
Stating that the government would pursue legal remedies, Siddaramaiah said, “We are preparing an appeal challenging the returning officer’s announcement in a court of law.”
Responding to a separate query on elections in other states, the CM said there appeared to be an anti-incumbency factor in West Bengal, while results in Tamil Nadu were “surprising,” adding that Vijay’s party was emerging as the largest there.
Following the victory of party candidates in Bagalkote and Davanagere South, Siddaramaiah expressed confidence about future electoral prospects in Karnataka.
“Even in 2028, we will win the Assembly elections. We will come back,” the CM said.
Siddaramaiah added that he would order a forensic examination into the alleged tampering of postal ballots.
