Are There Malpractices in Voter Enrollment for Jubilee Hills Bypoll?

Synopsis
Key Takeaways
- Hyderabad District Election Officer denies malpractices in voter registration.
- Allegations emerged regarding numerous voters registered at single addresses.
- No new enrollments were found; all names were part of previous electoral rolls.
- The by-election is set for November 11, following the passing of the sitting MLA.
- A 3.49% increase in registered voters was noted since the last elections.
Hyderabad, Oct 13 (NationPress) The Hyderabad District Election Officer has firmly rejected claims of irregularities in voter registration within the Jubilee Hills Assembly constituency, where a by-election is set for November 11.
The clarification from District Election Officer R. V. Karnan follows an investigation prompted by media reports suggesting malpractices in voter addition due to the high number of voters registered at specific addresses.
The inquiry examined four instances where numerous voters were listed at single locations. Reports indicated that 50 voters were registered at one door number, while 43 electors were associated with another.
Upon investigation, it was determined that these names were already included in the final electoral rolls for the 2023 Telangana State Legislative Assembly elections and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The District Election Officer confirmed that no new registrations had occurred at the scrutinized addresses.
Further, it was revealed that some of the addresses mentioned housed multiple residences, resulting in a higher number of registered electors. For instance, 50 voters were identified at a residence comprising three floors and a penthouse, while another residence with 43 voters contained 15 flats.
“To summarize, there has been no alteration in the number of electors at these addresses since 2023, and the allegations of new voter registrations are entirely unfounded,” stated the District Election Officer.
In response to the 43 voters case, leaders from the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) accused the Congress government in the state of engaging in vote theft.
They noted that numerous complaints had emerged regarding voters being registered in multiple areas just prior to the by-election.
BRS working president K. T. Rama Rao criticized Congress for vote theft and presented a list of 43 voters from a single residence.
BRS spokesperson Y. Satish Reddy highlighted the case of the 43 voters, asserting that one of them was actually registered in a different constituency but enrolled in Jubilee Hills specifically for this election.
Another BRS member, Krishank Manne, claimed that voters from Nakrekal and Uppal constituencies had been registered in Jubilee Hills for the by-election.
According to the recently published final electoral roll, the constituency boasts 399,000 voters - comprising 207,382 males, 191,593 females, and 25 third-gender voters.
During the 2023 Assembly elections, the constituency had 385,287 voters, indicating a 3.49% increase in registered voters.
The by-election process commenced with the Returning Officer issuing notifications on Monday.
Voting is scheduled for November 11, with vote counting planned for November 14.
This by-election was necessitated by the passing of sitting MLA Maganti Gopinath of BRS in June.