Compared to 2014, Hyderabad has over 1 lakh less voters

Hyderabad: There are 1,03,426 fewer voters in the current draft publication of electoral rolls than in the 2014 voters’ list in 15 Assembly constituencies in Hyderabad.  According to the draft publication released on Monday, there are 38,61,009 voters in 15 constituencies in Hyderabad district against 39,64,635 voters in the 2014 voters’ list.  Yet, according to district electoral authorities there has been 1.4 per cent increase in new voters who have completed 18 years of age prior to January 1, 2018. 

An official said that in view of the premature dissolution of the Assembly, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has decided to stop, with immediate effect, all activities relating to Special Summary Revision of Photo Electoral Rolls with reference to January 1, 2019, as qualifying date.

Now the ECI has decided to publish final electoral rolls on October 8 instead of keeping January 1, 2018 as the qualifying date.   The district election officer and GHMC commissioner M. Dana Kishore held a meeting with representatives from all political parties in the city and invited them to raise claims and objections pertaining to the draft publication.

 The claims and objections can be addressed to the electoral registration officers concerned between September 10 and 25 or on the above website. Special campaigns will be taken up on September 15 and 16. The disposal of claims and objections will take place on October 4. The updating of database and printing of supplement will be completed before October 7.  The final electoral roll will be published on October 8.

Expressing displeasure at the draft publication, political parties found fault with the District Electoral Officer's attitude and said that they  have been favouring the ruling party and its ally, the AIMIM.  They demanded that the DEO rectify the errors in the electoral revision by deputing additional staff before releasing the final draft.

During a meeting, representatives from the BJP claimed that there were major voter deletions in their sitting constituencies. Mr Kishore gave an assurance that the existing system will be further strengthened by deploying 200 senior officers of various categories to assist the EROs, supervisors and BLOs to effectively implement the process of revision of the electoral rolls according to the guidelines given by the ECI. The DEO said that specific instructions have already been given to all the ZCs/EROs to impart training to the BLOs/supervisors about the process of inclusion, deletion.