YSRCP workers are allegedly submitting bulk applications to delete the names of TDP sympathisers from the electoral rolls.
This is the concluding part of a two-article series on voter profiling and the alleged manipulation of the electoral rolls in poll-bound Andhra Pradesh. The first part that explains how a multi-layered network with nearly 10 lakh people has been put in place to profile voters can be accessed here.
The Election Commission’s Form-7 can be used to object to the proposed inclusion or deletion of a name in the existing voter lists. It has often been touted as a formidable tool for political parties to affect changes in electoral rolls.
In Andhra Pradesh, the ruling YSRCP is accused by opposition of attempting to alter the voters’ list for electoral gains via the same route.
Civil societies and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP)— the main Opposition in the state — have claimed that the YSRCP has been applying for bulk deletion of voter names in Andhra Pradesh using Form-7.
To aid this process, opposition and activists claim, the party has been misusing a network of nearly 10 lakh people – volunteers, secretariat workers and Gruha saradhis – appointed by the Jagan Mohan Reddy-led government and the party.
A detailed description of this massive network and why they face allegations of voter-profiling is explained in the first part of this series and can be read here.
Activists allege that bulk submissions for voter deletion were made mostly in 20-25 constituencies where the YSRCP has been anticipating a tough fight in the April-May 2024 elections to the Lok Sabha and the state Assembly.
According to the Election Commission guidelines, Form-7 could be used for altering the electoral roll in four main instances: The death of the voter, the voter shifting residence from one constituency to another, duplication of the voter’s identity, and if the voter is missing from the given address.
The guidelines further stated that the onus of providing proof to substantiate the reason given for objection or removal of a name lies with the applicant.
Providing any false statement in the declaration is punishable under Section 31 of the Representation of People Act (RPA) of 1950, with imprisonment that may extend to one year or a fine or both.
South First focused on the Guntur West Assembly segment, one of the 23 constituencies that the Telugu Desam Party – the primary opposition party in Andhra Pradesh – retained in 2019.
The Form-7 list applicants, seeking mass deletion of voters. (South First)
MLA Maddali Giridhara Rao, who won the constituency by a margin of 4,289 votes on a TDP ticket, shifted his allegiance to the YSRCP after the election.
The YSRCP has now appointed Health Minister Vidadala Rajini as in charge of the constituency.
According to the data available on the Election Commission website, applications on Form-7 have been made to remove around 4,734 voters from the electoral rolls of the constituency till 8 December this year.
While some may be part of the regular updating process, political motives have been attributed to other applications by TDP that even protested demanding that the ERO raise a complaint over politically motivated build deletion applications. The Election Registration Officer (ERO) is the authorised person to raise a complaint.
In November this year, as many as 1,838 applications were submitted by more than 45 people, of whom eight people alone applied for the deletion of 1,227 voters.
Incidentally, the bulk of the applications were submitted by persons identified by the TDP as local leaders affiliated with the incumbent YSRCP and their applications were aimed at removing TDP leaders and sympathisers from electoral rolls.
South First identified two of the applicants as Rahimuddin Shaik, a gruha saradhi at Ward no 34, and Seshi Reddy Challa, a YSRCP corporator candidate from Ward 42.
Shaik has applied for the deletion of 27 votes, while Challa has applied for the deletion of 227 votes.
Ward 45 TDP corporator Kommineni Koteshwar Rao claimed that another YSRCP sympathiser, Seshi Reddy Konda, had applied for the deletion of 289 names from the voters’ list. Koteshwar Rao and his family members’ names, too, were included in Konda’s list for deletion.
In Guntur West’s Ward 34, where gruha saradhi Rahimuddin Shaik has applied for the deletion of 27 names, a resident, on condition of anonymity, reported intense monitoring of voters. He explained that voters were being surveilled by three Sachivalayam’s/ Grama-Ward Secretariat assigned to one ward, supported by a total of 66 volunteers, 132 gruha saradhis, and nine Sachivalayam convenors.
Additionally, around 30 Sachivalayam employees contribute to a total of 237 individuals overseeing approximately 5,000 voters. This roughly translates to one person monitoring 20 voters.
It may be noted that no case has been registered against Rahimuddin while complaints have been raised against six applicants alleging misuse of Form 7.
Further analysing the Form-7 applications made on 8 December, South First found that over 30 application seeking deletion of names were filed by persons deeming themselves “dead”.
In these forms, the name of the applicant was the same as the name of voter they sought to remove from electoral rolls citing death as the reason. All the forms were submitted on 8 December 2023.
List of applications seeking deletion on grounds of death where applicant is the same as person deemed dead. (South First)
As per the Election Commission guidelines, the objector has to be present at the time of verification by the Booth Level Officer (BLO). Otherwise, the Form-7 becomes void.
Guntur Municipal Corporation Additional Commissioner and Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) K Lakshmi Siva Jyothi told South First that she had lodged a police complaint after an enquiry report found that Ramu Lanallabowtula, Sanjeeva Reddy Anam, Sheshi Reddy Challa, Sheshi Reddy Konda, Venkata Reddy Pulusu, and Venkayamma Sidde had filed fake Form-7 claims from 2 November to 5 November this year.
While the ERO’s complaint doesn’t mention any party affiliation, TDP leaders allege the accused are workers of YSRCP.
Following an inquiry, Election Commission Officials found that of the total 979 Form 7 applications that were filed by the accused seeking deletion of names, 930 applications had false information. In short, attempt was made to delete 930 valid voters from electoral rolls through Form 7 submissions.
Interestingly, although a case was registered back in November, the investigating officers are yet to even summon the accused, raising questions. Pattabhipuram Sub Inspector Prudhvi Eknadh told South First that the investigation is going on but nobody had been called in for questioning.
Former Andhra Pradesh election commissioner Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar said this was nothing but tokenism. He said the Election Commission should take strict action over the lack of progress in the complaint filed.
South First has also reached out to MLA Giridhar Rao, who won from TDP but joined YSRCP later, but didn’t receive any response.
TDP leader Koteshwar Rao was on the campaign trail when he received a call informing him that a request had been made to the Election Commission to remove his name from the electoral rolls. Konda had made the Form-7 request, he was told.
The Form-7 application was made by a Gruha Saradhi. (South First)
Koteshwar Rao told South First that he immediately realised it was a YSRCP ploy and prevented the mass deletion of voters’ names from the rolls.
The TDP protested at the office of the ERO — Lakshmi, in this case — for two days and lodged a case against Konda through her.
“I have known Seshi Reddy Konda for years. He wouldn’t dare do this since he knows the consequences. Someone at the top level is backing him,” said Rao.
Guntur West’s Ward 42 corporator Vemulapalli Prasad — a TDP leader — said the YSRCP had been filing applications to delete the names of those who were likely to support the Opposition party.
The information on such voters was collected through volunteers and gruha saradhis further backed by the secretariat employees who are the BLOs, he said.
“The YSRCP’s Seshi Reddy Challa, who lost an election to me, applied for the deletion of 227 names. I have been told by the election officer that one shouldn’t apply for the deletion of more than five votes,” he said.
“However, Challa applied for 227 votes. His motive is clear,” Prasad added.
While there is no ECI rules on number of Form 7 applications a person can make, it is seen as a norm by officials to not file more than five.
“While there is no upper limit for the number of Form 7 applications one person can file, when there are bulk submissions, we verify it carefully and initiate action if the forms are deemed false and incorrect,” Siva Jyothy added.
She, however, didn’t respond on the list of applications seeking deletions citing death in the name of those deemed deceased.
A gruha saradhi from Guntur West’s booth 119 applied for the deletion of 27 votes. But, after verification by the booth-level officer (BLO), 17 votes were retained on the electoral rolls. However, the Election Commission has not reportedly acted against the gruha saradhi.
Former election commissioner Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar, a retired Andhra Pradesh-cadre IAS officer, had to wait for three years after applying for the right to vote in 2021.
After retirement, he went through several rounds of processes and, as a last resort, even moved the Andhra Pradesh High Court.
A letter informing Liykhat Khan of the deletion of his name from the electoral roll. (South First)
Finally, he obtained voter enrolment in his native Duggirala village in Mangalagiri in the Guntur district.
He started a civil society organisation called Citizens for Democracy with other bureaucrats and retired justices fighting for electoral reforms in Andhra Pradesh.
On 11 October, Kumar filed a PIL in the Supreme Court challenging the inclusion of volunteers and village and ward secretariats in the electoral rolls.
The case was transferred to the Delhi High Court, which has been already hearing a case filed by Telugu-language newspaper Eenadu.
The state government had issued an order providing a monthly newspaper allowance of ₹200 each for a volunteer, specifically to subscribe to Eenadu’s rival Sakshi – founded by YSR family.
The present chairperson of the media house is CM Jagan Mohan Reddy’s wife YS Bharathi. This prompted Eenadu to approach court.
In Duggirala village, a major turmeric hub in the country, Form-7 applications made between 29 October and 28 November that sought to remove 340 voters from the electoral rolls.
The YSRCP’s booth agent, Bajishahid Mohamed, submitted the highest number of applications — to delete 29 voters, mostly those identified as TDP sympathisers.
Kumar told South First “Political parties’ booth-level agents (BLAs) are restricted to filing applications to delete no more than 10 voters. Despite this limit being exceeded, the BLOs and EROs have endorsed and supported such actions. This clearly indicates a nexus within the system involving volunteers, Sachivalayam employees, and party workers in the locality.”
When South First met Likhayat Wali Khan Pathan, he was busy running around the ERO office and that of the district magistrate to get his right to exercise his franchise reinstated.
Pathan, who shifted residence 400 metres from the registered address, said he was shocked to know that a man he had known for years made the application to have his name deleted from the electoral rolls.
He said that only his name had been deleted, while the votes of his neighbours, who are also part of the same case, remained unaffected. He further highlighted that the BLO, Ganesh, is a village secretariat employee who entertained the bulk applications by Bajishahid.
“I spoke to Bajishahid Mohammed even on the night before he applied,” Pathan said, adding that he was specifically targeted. “I am not pro-TDP. But after what they have done to me, I will back the party,” he said. “I have complained to the district magistrate and am awaiting a response.”
Pathan also said he was determined to get his name back on the electoral rolls even if it warranted a legal battle.
Those making allegations of voter list manipulation against the YSRCP government insist that the approach is two-pronged.
First, voter profiling is allegedly carried via a nearly 10-lakh strong force of village/ward volunteers, secretariat workers and Gruha Saradhis – appointed by the government and party, blurring the lines between the two.
Second, data gleaned from the profiling is used to identify “inconvenient” voters and get them removed from electoral rolls to affect electoral outcomes. The system raises questions over assurance of a free and fair electoral process in Andhra Pradesh slated to go to polls next year.
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