The Election Commission in Andhra Pradesh, on Wednesday, received a Form-7, to delete the vote of YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, YSRCP chief and Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly. The application, which was filed online, has now started a row as the YSRCP accused the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) sending the form.
Speaking to reporters, the local Tahsildar from Pulivendula, where Jagan is registered as a voter, said, “A Form-7 was filed online to delete his vote and an unidentified person filled it in such a way that it seemed as if Jagan himself filed the application. We assigned a Booth Level Officer (BLO) as per the procedure to visit his house."
The Tahsildar informed his relative, Janardhan Reddy, who, in turn, informed Jagan, and submitted a statement, saying that he did not file the application. “We are conducting an investigation to ascertain who may have filed the application. The District Collector has also been informed of the developments and has asked for a report to be submitted on the matter. Keeping this in mind, we wrote a letter to the police station concerned and lodged a complaint," he added.
Meanwhile, the police have registered a case under Section 465 (Forgery), 466 (Forgery of record of court or of public register), 177 (Furnishing false information), 182 (False information to cause public servant to use his lawful power to the injury of another person) and Section 65 of the Information Technology Act. Efforts are also underway to trace the person who filed the application.
Accusing TDP of creating 'bogus voters' in their party’s favour, the YSRCP has been filing several Form-7 applications, requesting en masse deletion of names. They have also approached the Election Commission of India, claiming that Andhra Pradesh has 59 lakh bogus voters. The party has also accused Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu of deleting voters who are in favour of YSRCP. The TDP, however, has denied these allegations.
Defending the YSRCP's action to delete 'bogus voters', Jagan had earlier said, "It is not a crime to file Form-7. It is a natural democratic right to file it. Filing the request would initiate an inquiry and the Election Commission of India (ECI) will verify and remove the name if there is a wrong voter. If it's genuine, they won't do anything."