Anger as names vanish on voter lists in India

Hyderabad: The first assembly election since the formation of Telangana state witnessed a high turnout, with about 70 per cent of 28 million eligible citizens casting their votes.

However, voter turnout was once again lower in Hyderabad compared to the other areas. Officials estimated it would remain around 50 per cent, the same level as 2014.

Results of the election are expected to be released on Tuesday, November 11.

Voting was largely peaceful and orderly yesterday, as the fate of 1,821 candidates was sealed in the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).

However, there were complaints and protests over names going missing from voter lists in several constituencies.

In Janagaon constituency, residents resorted to a sit-in protest as the names of a large number of people were not on the list. A crowd blocked the Hyderabad highway.

Along with ordinary voters, the names of the father and two other relatives of minister Etela Rajinder were missing.

In Vellatur village of Suryapet a group of people attacked a returning officer after voters complained he was manipulating their choices.

Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao cast his vote in the Siddipet constituency.

“The wind is in our favour and our party will win,” he said.

Telangana Congress president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy cast his vote in Kodad where his wife Padmavathy was in the fray. State BJP president and candidate K. Lakshman cast his vote in Musheerabad.

Meanwhile, film stars, sports personalities, top bureaucrats and politicians waited patiently for their turn to vote, as the poll process started at 7am.

Elsewhere, city police commissioner Anjani Kumar waited in a queue for half an hour in Amberpet as the EVM had developed a technical snag. In contrast noted film director K. Raghendra Rao walked out in a huff when the people objected as he tried to jump the queue in Filmnagar. Top film names Chiranjeevi, Nagarjuna and Junior N.T.R. were among the notables who cast their votes in different polling stations.

Tennis star Sania Mirza along with her parents voted near her home in Banjara Hills. But another sports celebrity, Jwala Gutta, was angry after not finding her name on the voter’s list. “How can the election be fair when names go missing like this?,” Gutta told journalists,

The ex-badminton star said her own name was there, along with the names of her relatives, when she checked the list online three weeks ago. But some names, including hers, were missing on voting day.

MP and president of the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) Asaduddin Owaisi cast his vote in Shastripura.

Meanwhile, in exit polls published by four major media outlets, two forecast a clear victory for the TRS, while the other two pointed to a hung assembly.

All of them agreed the BJP at best would increase only a couple of more seats to its tally.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday appealed to the people of Rajasthan and Telangana to participate in the Assembly polls. “Today is polling day ... I urge all voters in the state to take part in the biggest festival of democracy with full enthusiasm and vote in huge numbers,” Modi tweeted.

Telangana Chief Minister and Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) President K. Chandrashekhar Rao was confident yesterday that his party will retain power in the state after the Assembly polls with a huge majority.

The leader, who is contesting from Gajwel constituency, told the media: “People are pro-incumbency. You will come to know by the evening when exit polls will be out,” he said, adding that the state recorded heavy polling. “Hyderabad is also voting heavily. Even old people are lining up.”

With many people from Hyderabad heading to their hometowns or places of birth to cast their votes in the Telangana Assembly elections yesterday, the state government decided to exempt them from toll tax.

Chief Secretary S.K. Joshi ordered it, after a request from Chief Electoral Officer Rajath Kumar. The poll official told reporters that considering the long traffic jams at toll plazas, he requested for the toll tax to be waived, to let people reach their villages faster. Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) is operating additional bus services to accommodate the rush.

A youngster was arrested for taking a selfie while casting his vote yesterday. Shiv Shankar was arrested after a polling official; s complaint, in Rajendranagar constituency in Greater Hyderabad.

Officials said the youth was arrested under Representation of People’s Act for violating secrecy of voting. The use of mobile phones inside polling booths is prohibited. Election authorities have asked voters to refrain from carrying mobile phones inside the centres.

Two voters died at polling booths in two different incidents yesterday.

A 55-year-old man collapsed and died while waiting at a polling centre at Pydipalli village in Warangal Urban district. In the other incident, an elderly voter died of cardiac arrest at a polling booth in Gundrampalli village of Nalgonda district. Another voter died in a road accident while heading tow a polling booth in Khairatabad constituency in Hyderabad.