The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) on Monday demanded that the Election Commission take action against the opposition YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) for allegedly misusing 'Form 7' in Andhra Pradesh to "seek deletion of 9.27 lakh genuine voters" from the electoral rolls in the state.
A representation in this regard was made to Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora by TDP leaders and Andhra Pradesh state ministers Kalava Srinivasulu and Nakka Anand Babu, TDP Party National Spokesperson K Rammohan Rao and Rajya Sabha MP K Ravindra Kumar.
Form 7 is an application for objecting inclusion or seeking deletion of name in electoral roll. The party alleged that applications of Form-7 have been taken by a few individuals in bulk through "impersonation, forgery and by giving false particulars to the authorities" and these could be misused. The TDP requested the CEC to conduct a detailed inquiry into the issue.
"We have requested the CEC to act on the misuse of Form 7 and take action against YSRCP which has sought deleting of eligible voters from the electoral rolls," Andhra Pradesh Minister for Information and Rural Housing Kalava Srinivasulu told reporters after the meeting with the CEC.
"It appears that some of these applications were submitted online outside the state of Andhra Pradesh," he said and alleged that YSRCP is "conspiring" against TDP with the support of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and the BJP.
This comes days after Jagan Reddy-led YSRCP lodged a complaint with EC claiming large-scale irregularities in Andhra Pradesh voters' list and gross misuse of official machinery by the state government.
Srinivasulu on Monday alleged that the TRS was behind "en masse deletion of names of voters" from the electoral rolls just before the election notification leading to their success in the recently concluded Telangana assembly elections.
More From This Section
In addition, Srinivasulu said the the party has requested the EC to instruct the Telangana Police not to interfere in the affairs of Andhra Pradesh and also take steps to prevent YSRCP from using its in-house media platforms to publish and broadcast false news and programmes against the TDP.
The ruling TDP and the main opposition YSRCP in Andhra Pradesh are engaged in a war of words in the backdrop of a case filed in Hyderabad over alleged theft of sensitive government data, including the electoral rolls, through a private IT firm.
The IT firm is engaged in providing various technological services to the TDP, including creation of a mobile application SevaMitra.
Both assembly and Lok Sabha polls will be held on April 11 in the state.