ECI wants AP IAS officer sacked for vote manipulation

Tirupati: Election Commission of India (ECI) has recommended suspension of an IAS officer and five others for unauthorised downloading of about 34,000 electors photo identification cards (EPICs) in Tirupati between March and April 2021 ahead of Tirupati Lok Sabha by-elections.

ECI reportedly found prima facie evidence of its official servers being accessed in an unauthorised manner. EPIC cards had been downloaded using the login ID of the then Electoral Registration Officer (ERO), working as the commissioner of the Tirupati Municipal Corporation at the time.

The commissioner is currently a district collector.

Election Commission of India has also recommended suspending the then assistant electoral registration officers (AEROs) and three outsourced employees involved in the incident.

ECI initiated inquiries based on a complaint filed by the BJP in December 2023. The party had alleged violations in electoral rolls during the 2021 Tirupati by-elections.

At the time, other opposition parties also accused the ruling YSR Congress of manipulating voter ID cards to cast fake votes.

YSRC candidate Dr. Maddila Gurumurthy defeated Telugu Desam party candidate Panabaka Lakshmi by over 14 per cent of the votes.

Incidentally, the file to suspend the officers involved is pending with AP chief secretary K.S. Jawahar Reddy. He is expected to now act within days, sources in the secretariat said. While

While the IAS officer has denied all allegations, the Election Commission of India has taken the stand that he is primarily responsible for the misuse of login ID to download the voter ID cards.

Despite denying his role, the IAS officer will have to face a detailed inquiry and prove his innocence.