HYDERABAD: Ahead of the Munugode byelections on November 3, a staggering 24,879 people applied for voter enrolment until October 6, in addition to the existing 2,20,520 voters.
The whopping number of new applications for voter enrolment pales in comparison to the 3,500 applications received over the last three years, including the Covid-19 pandemic period. Among the new applications, youth over the age of 18 and married women seem to have applied in large numbers for voter registration.
According to sources, several families from the Munugode Assembly constituency migrated to Hyderabad in search of work. Families who had moved from Munugode to other cities had applied for voter registration.
Tahsildars from all seven mandals in Munugode Assembly constituency, including Mungode, Chandur, Marriguda, Samsthan Narayanpur, Nampally, Choutuppal, and Ghattuppal, reviewed the applications, and the majority were reportedly rejected.
According to a senior officer, migrant worker applications will not be considered for enrollment, and only youths over the age of 18 and newly married women will be permitted to enrol. The final draft of the voters list will be released on October 14, which is the last date for filing of nominations for byelection.
The BJP state unit, meanwhile, approached the Telangana High Court on Tuesday alleging that the TRS was abusing its power to add around 25,000 bogus voters in poll-bound Munugode.
Gujjula Premendar Reddy, BJP state general secretary, filed a lunch motion petition stating that the authorities had received 24,781 applications in 70 days. He said that only 1,474 applications had been received in seven months prior to that.
He said the TRS was pressuring the authorities to enrol the new applicants without verification. Requesting an urgent hearing, Premendar Reddy said that the voters list would be published on October 14 and considered final if the court did not intervene.
The petitioner stated that the Nalgonda district election officer had called BJP state executive member J. Narasimha Reddy to a meeting of representatives of political parties and informed him that 24,781 applications under Form 6 (new voters) had been received for processing.
On Tuesday, counsel B. Rachana Reddy, who is also a BJP spokesperson, requested the court to hear the case urgently. The court said that the plea will be heard on October 13.
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