Date:15/08/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/08/15/stories/2008081550840300.htm

Andhra Pradesh

CPI (M) picks holes in draft voter list

Correspondent

‘Non-Congress sympathisers not being enrolled’

Some names appear more than once, says party leader
Collector and Joint Collector blamed for ‘discrepancies’

VIZIANAGARAM: The CPI (M) district committee has in a random survey conducted in Salur and Naguru Assembly constituencies detected “blunders” in the draft voter list.

Party secretary M. Krishna Murty told a press conference on Thursday that at Thonam village in Salur mandal the number of voters registered before delimitation of constituencies was 249 and it was now put at 690.

In the draft list of voters of Thonam it was found that the name of Muvvala Nagaraju appeared twice and those of Muvvala Lakshmana Rao, Muvvala Nageswara Rao, Koneti Bhaskara Rao and Kondagorri Appala Swamy at three, four and two places each respectively. At Kurukutti, the number of voters dropped to 594 from 2,000, Kurmarajupeta to 1533 (1890), P. Konavalasa in Pachipenta mandal to 1227 (1929), Karrivalasa 1221 (1548), Padmapuram 930(1477), Chemudu in Makkuva mandal 1454 (1764), Aratham 584 (1043), Chemuduguda in G.L.Puram mandal 898 (1251), Lakkaguda 799 (1150) and Bithrapadu in Jiyyammavalasa mandal 902 (1304) and the list was endless.

At Basangi in Jiyyammavalasa mandal, the CPI (M) leader said, that names of non-Congress sympathizers were not being enrolled for the last eight years at the instance of Village Revenue Officer, an aide of a Minister. He blamed the Collector and the Joint Collector for the ‘discrepancies’ in the list and said correction or inclusion of names before August 20, the last date for rectification, was not possible.

Further, he said Form-6 required for the purpose was also in short supply. The party would write a letter, pointing out mistakes in the draft list to the Election Commission shortly, the CPI (M) leader said.