Jagan urges EC to delete 60 lakh 'defective voters' in Andhra

The YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) on Monday urged the Election Commission to delete the names of nearly 60 lakh "defective voters" from the rolls in Andhra Pradesh.

YSR Congress Party President Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy called on Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora to seek his intervention to ensure free and fair elections in the state.

He alleged that the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) government was trying to subvert democracy and steal the election.

Talking to reporters, the Leader of the Opposition in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly said he briefed Arora on the various ways in which the government was undermining the electoral process.

Jagan, as he is widely known, alleged that the "unfair and unethical means" used by the TDP government included manipulation of electoral rolls, misuse of government machinery and partisan use of police officers to intimidate the opposition and keep a tab on them.

He said his party identified 52.67 lakh defective and duplicate voters in September 2018 and brought the matter to the attention of the CEC several times.

He claimed that the number of defective voters increased by 59.18 lakh at the behest of the TDP government. Out of 3.69 crore voters, if nearly 60 lakh are "invalid or defective", it reflects very badly on the election process, Jagan said.

He said the Election Commission should consider conducting elections in both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana on the same day as there were many voters who have votes in both the states.

Jagan also alleged that the TDP was misusing government machinery by conducting various surveys and gathering data to identify voters sympathetic to YSRCP and delete them from the voters' list.

He claimed that the TDP had parked Rs 4,000-5,000 crore in all the 175 Assembly constituencies for distribution among the voters.

Jagan alleged that the TDP government was giving out of turn promotions to police officers, especially to those belonging to Naidu's community.

He demanded that Director General of Police R.P. Thakur, Additional DGP A.B. Venkateswara Rao and DIG G. Srinivas be removed from election duty.

--IANS

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