YSRC Accuses Narayana Group of Collecting Voters Data, Complains to AP Poll Chief

Tirupati: As Narayana Group founder and Telugu Desam (TD) leader Dr. Ponguru Narayana plans to contest the upcoming Assembly elections from the Nellore urban constituency, The ruling YSRC on Monday complained to Andhra Pradesh’s Chief Electoral Officer stating that the Narayana Group was allegedly collecting voters’ data from students and their families.

YSRC MLC and party central office in-charge Lella Appi Reddy met CEO Mukesh Kumar Meena on Monday and submitted a representation. He said the school officials have asked its students in Nellore to fill up a form, which seeks details like addresses, phone numbers and voter IDs of their family members.

"Narayana Group of educational institutions, which holds a prominent position in the education sector of Andhra Pradesh, has been engaging in the collection of personal data from family members of students enrolled in their establishments," Reddy stated in the letter.

The letter added that Narayana, the group's founder, is an active TD leader and former minister in the Chandrababu Naidu Cabinet between 2014-2019. It was also alleged that he planned to contest the upcoming polls from the Nellore urban constituency but has been named in several criminal cases in the past.

Appi Reddy requested the CEO to initiate legal proceedings under the Representation of People Act, 1950, Representation of People Act, 1951, Indian Penal Code, and Model Code of Conduct to ensure the conduct of transparent, unbiased elections.

The letter also sought directions to the Narayana Group to hand over the collected data, and punish and disqualify Dr. Narayana from contesting the polls for alleged violation of privacy of voters' sensitive personal data like voter IDs and booth details. Appi Reddy claimed collecting such sensitive voter information encroaches upon the personal privacy of voters which is against democracy.

Emphasising that voter privacy is essential to reduce the threat of coercion, vote buying, selling and tampering, the YSRC general secretary requested the Election Commission of India (ECI) not to tolerate such activities and debar Dr. Narayana from contesting the polls if found to have violated the Constitution by illegally accessing voters' private data.