Hyderabad: Marri Shashidhar Reddy, a former National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) vice chairman and senior BJP leader, raised concerns about the illegal deletion of voters. He emphasized the need for an investigation to determine the reasons behind these deletions.
In a conversation with The Hans India, Reddy noted that despite past incidents of mass illegal voter deletions in 2015, the situation has not improved. The Election Commission of India (ECI) had previously intervened in response to complaints of selective voter deletions, leading to the transfer of the Hyderabad District Election Officer at the time, Somesh Kumar.
Reddy highlighted that this was not the first time the ECI had taken action on such complaints. He mentioned a previous incident in 2001, where an investigation resulted in the suspension of a district election officer for selectively deleting 15,000 voters in Uttar Pradesh.
He stressed the importance of holding accountable any officials responsible for unauthorized voter deletions and ensuring the accuracy and integrity of voter lists. Another former official from the state Election Commission pointed out specific articles in the Constitution related to voting processes, emphasizing the rights of all eligible voters to be included in electoral rolls without discrimination.
According to the former official, any voter whose name was wrongly deleted could take legal action against the responsible officials. Violations of Article 325 of the Constitution could lead to serious consequences for election officials involved in enrollment and deletion processes.
