Hyderabad: BC welfare minister Ponnam Prabhakar on Sunday challenged BJP state president N Ramchander Rao to specify a date and time for a meeting at which he would present people who allegedly lost their voting rights during the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, along with supporting evidence.
Reacting to Ramchander Rao’s criticism of allegations regarding vote deletions, the minister said it would have been more appropriate for the BJP state president to acknowledge the concerns and urge party workers to help safeguard the voting rights of eligible citizens rather than question whether anyone had actually lost their votes.
Under the slogan “Save the Vote – Save the Country – Protect Democracy – Protect the Constitution,” Ponnam called for transparency in the voter list revision process and demanded that the Election Commission take measures to ensure that no eligible citizen is deprived of the right to vote. The minister said the Election Commission must disclose how many votes had been deleted, how many belonged to ineligible persons and whether eligible voters had been removed inadvertently. He said the right to vote was a constitutional democratic right and urged all those committed to democracy and the Constitution to support the campaign against wrongful deletions.
The minister demanded that Ramchander Rao accept the challenge and asked the Election Commission to investigate the alleged deletions and rectify errors in the electoral rolls. He stressed that electoral roll revision should be conducted transparently and impartially. He also highlighted the difficulties faced by poor people, senior citizens, illiterate persons and daily-wage workers who are compelled to make repeated visits to govt offices to establish their voting rights. Questioning the additional documentation requirements imposed on citizens who possess identity documents such as Aadhaar , he called for clear guidelines to help eligible voters protect their rights. Referring to former Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu’s remarks in an interview about voter registration and submission of proof, Ponnam questioned the difficulties ordinary citizens could face if even prominent individuals encountered problems in establishing their identity. The minister maintained that correcting errors in electoral rolls was necessary but should not result in the disenfranchisement of eligible citizens.