ANDHRA PRADESH

Opposition Battles Against Bogus Voters

 M Venugopala Rao

OPPOSITION parties, including the CPI(M) and the CPI, in Andhra Pradesh are agitating against the large scale enrolment of bogus voters. They are demanding thorough verification to ensure the removal of bogus names from the electoral rolls. They also want sufficient time and opportunity given to eligible people to get enrolled as voters, if necessary, by extending the timeframe of the process of summary revision of electoral rolls, which is scheduled to be completed with publication of final list of voters by January 20. But the ruling Telugu Desam Party is insisting on completion of the process by the scheduled time and trying to justify the abnormal proportion of voters vis a vis the population of the state.

Apart from holding an impressive rally in the state capital highlighting their demand, a delegation of top opposition leaders – B V Raghavulu (CPI-M), S Sudhakar Reddy (CPI), D Srinivas (Congress), A Narendra (TRS), Asaduddin Owaisi (MIM) – went to Delhi on January 8 to submit a memorandum to the Chief Election Commissioner, J M Lyngdoh on this issue.

The Election Commission, while examining draft electoral rolls in the month of August 2003, found that 5.49 crore voters in Andhra Pradesh constituted about 72.54 per cent of the population of the state.  It sent a team of officers to the state for verification of this abnormal proportion of voters. After receiving their report, the EC had ordered the chief electoral officer of the state, M Narayana Rao, to issue notices to 1.21 crore voters, who did not get photo identity cards, asking them to show cause as to why their names should not be deleted from the electoral rolls. That apart, summary revision of electoral rolls was also ordered in the entire country for inclusion of eligible voters and deletion of bogus and ineligible voters from the electoral rolls. During this process, in AP about 54 lakh new applications were received for enrolment of new voters, while the applications received for deletions from, and against inclusions in, the electoral rolls were less than four lakh.

On the complaints from several opposition parties in the state, the Election Commission deputed four teams of its officers, who visited various parts of the state for one week from December 22 to look into complaints relating to the process of revision of electoral rolls.  They expressed displeasure on the shoddy work done and inclusion of non-existent voters in the lists.  They are scheduled to visit the state again for further verification of the process. Till January 4, on verification of 89 lakh out of 1.21 crore voters without photo identity cards and  of 43.5 lakh out of  the  54 lakh new applications for inclusions,  about 51 lakh voters are identified as bogus to be eliminated from the electoral rolls, according to the chief electoral officer.  The identification process is continuing. 

The TDP leaders argue that during 1991-2001 the population growth rate in the state was 13.9 per 1000 against the all India average of 21.4 per 1000 and as such the people below the age of 18 were relatively less than the all India average.  Therefore, higher percentage of voters vis a vis the population of the state is justified, they say. Countering this argument, the Congress leaders say that compared to the all India average of 60 per cent of the population being the electorate, the proportion of 72.54 per cent in AP is scandalous. Even if the “nonsensical” explanation of the TDP leaders is taken into consideration, the ratio of electorate and population of the state can be 62 per cent, the Congress leaders argue. 

The opposition parties held a meeting on December 25 and submitted a copy of their resolution to the chief electoral officer of the state and the Chief Election Commissioner. D Srinivas, president of AP Congress committee, B V Raghavulu, state secretary of the CPI(M), S Sudhakar Reddy,  state secretary of the CPI, K Chandrasekhara Rao, president of Telangana Rashtra Samithi, and Asaduddin Owaisi, leader of the Majlis Ittehad-ul Muslimeen, later submitted a joint memorandum to the governor of the state, Surjit Singh Barnala, on December 30. They explained, inter alia, that the ruling party leaders were pressurising the officers concerned to delete the eligible voters, sympathetic to the opposition parties, on one pretext or another, and include bogus voters to the advantage of the TDP. Cases were booked against some of the TDP leaders in various districts for their mischief of submitting bulk applications for inclusion of bogus and ineligible voters in the electoral rolls.  The mass transfers of Mandal Revenue Officers, the Police and other important officers has given room for suspicion that the government and TDP leaders with the active connivance  of some of the officers embarked on this exercise. The anger expressed by the visiting teams of officers of the  Election Commission is also indicative of that possibility. 

The opposition leaders also accused the caretaker chief minister, N Chandrababu Naidu, and leaders of the TDP for openly expressing their objection to the constitutionally assigned verification process and the consequent rejection of bogus voters by the authorities of the Election Commission. They also charged the caretaker government of misusing the state exchequer for the latest spree of its campaign in the name of presenting progress reports by the caretaker CM in the private TV channels, etc.

RALLY

Six opposition parties took out a massive rally in Hyderabad on January 5, protesting against enrolment of bogus and ineligible voters. Leaders and followers of the parties holding banners, cutouts and flags participated in the rally, which started from Gandhi Bhavan, headquarters of the APCC, and culminated into a public meeting at the statue of B R Ambedkar at Tankbund.  Exposing the questionable approach of the TDP and the BJP on the issue of elimination of names of bogus voters and the policies of the government, the opposition parties expressed their resolve to continue the struggle till the objective was achieved.  Addressing the public meeting, Koratala Satyanarayana, Polit Bureau member of the CPI(M), pointed out that when the voters increased by only five lakh from 1994 to 1999,  how was it possible that they increased by 80 lakh between 1999 and 2003. D Srinivas said Chandrababu Naidu was frightened at the very mention of bogus voters. Taking advantage of his influence with the NDA government at the centre, the CM was trying pressurise the Election Commission not to delete the names of bogus voters from electoral rolls in the state, he said.  Srinivas asserted that the opposition parties would unitedly work to defeat the attempts of Chandrababu to come to power again with the help of officers, police, bogus voters and rowdies.  Former leader of the Congress legislature party, Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy,  S Sudhakar Reddy, K Chandrasekhara Rao, Asaduddin Owaisi  and state president of Lok Janashakti, Jagadiswar,  addressed the meeting.