Published Dec 24, 2023 | 10:39 AM ⚊ Updated Dec 24, 2023 | 11:25 AM
(Representational image/Creative Commons)
A team of officers from the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Saturday, 23 December, reviewed the preparedness for next year’s general elections and directed officials to ensure that the electoral rolls are free of any errors and maintain transparency while conducting polls.
The ECI team led by Senior Deputy Election Commissioners Dharmendra Sharma and Nitish Kumar Vyas issued these directives to officials of Nandyala, Anantapur, Sri Satyasai, NTR, Annamayya, Chittoor and Tirupati districts of Andhra Pradesh during a two-day review meeting that ended on Saturday.
The ECI officers told the district officials to be ready to conduct elections without errors or any scope for any untoward incidents and stressed maintaining transparency and accountability, an official release said.
They noted that maintaining error-free electoral rolls is the key to holding elections peacefully.
The ECI officials directed the collectors and superintendents of police to properly train the election officials.
The voter list has been a focal point when it comes to political controversies in Andhra Pradesh.
TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu has time and again approached the ECI with complaints that the ruling YSRCP was kicking people off the list.
The latest instance of this was on 8 December, when the former chief minister alleged in a letter to the ECI that the YSRCP-run state government was responsible for the irregularities.
He also claimed that the prescribed procedure for the enrolment of voters was not being followed.
“The necessary changes in the electoral rolls are not being made as per the Electoral Manual-2023,” he said.
“Though the manual specifies the procedure for deletion of multiple entries, the procedure is not complied with, as still there are double or multiple entries of voters in several constituencies,” he alleged.
(With PTI inputs)
