Defence ministry cancels SCB elections after alleged mismatch in voter rolls

Hyderabad: The defence ministry on Friday cancelled the Secunderabad Cantonment Board (SCB) elections, which were scheduled for April 30, along with those at the 58 other cantonments nationwide.

According to SCB sources, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and the defence ministry were inundated with calls to cancel the polls in order to revise the voters list and protect every individual's right to vote.

They claimed that Ward 2 had 8,000 votes, but Wards 1 and 5 had 25,000. To reduce the glaring gap, the nominated members and the state government wrote to the defence ministry seeking cancellation of the polls until the electoral rolls were revised.

After examining the requests, the MoD (ministry of defence) decided to cancel the elections, which would be held three months after the electoral rolls were revised.

"The Union government intends to conduct free and fair elections. After considering the requests from all cantonment boards across the country, the MoD has decided to cancel polls. They would be held after the electoral revision. Every eligible individual will be included in the electoral list during the revision," said a SCB official requesting anonymity.

It may be noted that minister K.T. Rama Rao had written to defence minister Rajnath Singh seeking intervention of the Centre in restoring the names of 35,000 electors whose names were deleted from eight wards of the SCB. He had stated that the act was unconstitutional because none of the electors whose names were eliminated from the voter list were issued a showcause notice.