The TDP team has met the Election Commission suddenly in Delhi and demanded a third-party audit of the voter lists with the CAG every year to conduct transparent elections and to revise the voter lists, which is creating a stir among the NDA parties.
The TDP has urged the Central Election Commission not to amend the voters’ list in connection with citizenship verification. It has suggested that the amendments should be made as per the guidelines of the Supreme Court. In this regard, it has sought procedural clarity for the Special Comprehensive Revision (SIR) process planned to be carried out across the country, similar to the one currently being carried out in Bihar.
A group of leaders including TDP state president Palla Srinivasa Rao met Central Election Commissioner (ECI) Gyanesh Kumar at the Dharavi Bhavan in New Delhi on Tuesday. MPs Lavu Srikrishna Devarayalu, D Prasada Rao, Byreddy Sabari, MLA Kuna Ravikumar and TDP national spokesperson T Jyotsna submitted a four-page letter to the ECI.
It has demanded that fake, immigrant and dead votes be removed in real time with the help of AI. It has demanded that duplicate votes be removed with the help of Aadhaar and representatives of all recognized parties be involved in the revision of the voter lists and that information be given to the BLOs before the publication of the draft voter list.
Presently, the Central Election Commission has started a special voter revision process just two months before the assembly elections to be held in Bihar this year. However, the opposition parties are raising the issue that a large number of votes are being deleted in this.
Although it is said that only the votes of Bangladeshi, Nepali and Myanmar nationals are being removed, the ruling NDA is already getting agitated over the removal and addition of voters in the state. It is suspecting over BJP’s hidden agenda to remove the votes of the communities that oppose it. The Supreme Court has also intervened in this matter and made several suggestions to the EC.
In this context, the TDP, which is an ally of the NDA at the national level, approached the EC and it has decided to be careful in advance and restrain the BJP’s moves. It has asked that the details of the changes and additions of voters and their reasons be uploaded on the EC website district-wise.
TDP has also asked that dashboards be maintained to resolve complaints from voters in real time. It has said that steps should be taken to hold those responsible if the election officials make mistakes in this process and booth-level election officials be rotated without showing local bias. It also demanded the establishment of an ombudsman for unresolved complaints at the state level.
TDP also demanded a special drive to include homeless people and migrant workers in the voters’ list. It sought temporary addresses be provided to them even with nominal proofs. It also suggested that a review of the voters’ lists be conducted once a month with recognized political parties.
It said that adequate time should be given for the revision of the voters’ lists before the elections, that those who are already voters should not have to show proofs again, that votes should not be deleted without a thorough investigation, that the responsibility of collecting voter identification documents should be on the authorities and not on the voters.
