TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu wrote a letter to the Election Commission alleging bogus votes in the MLC elections. He alleged that the YSR Congress and the government machinery have influenced the EC officials here to include bogus votes to win the teachers and graduates MLC elections.

Here is the letter:

It is sad to note the presence and intrusion of bogus and fake voters in the present MLC elections to Graduate and Teachers’ constituencies in Andhra Pradesh. It is high time to resolve the entry of fake and bogus voters into the MLC voter list with the active connivance between the ruling YSRCP and a section of Government employees that are on election duties as Election Authorities like Assistant Electoral Registration Officer (AERO), Electoral Registration Officer (ERO), other Election Authorities in the districts and the concerned individuals.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) is the custodian of democratic elections in India starting from enrolling voters to declaring results to creating awareness among the people in general and voters. However, in Andhra Pradesh, the ruling YSRCP in collusion with a section of election officials is making the entire election process a mockery by including bogus and fake voters into the voter list. Such illegal and undemocratic acts will have an adverse impact on democracy in the long term.

They forged degree certificates, like, marks list, provisional and original certificates and the same are attested through forged signatures and submitted to the Electoral Officers. The Electoral Officers in turn, it appears, had in collusion with the YSRCP leaders enrolled the bogus/fake voters without verification through unlawful and illegal means.

A complaint was lodged with the office of the Chief Electoral Officer, Andhra Pradesh, earlier regarding bogus votes with forged documents for which the concerned District Collector was directed to inquire into the issue, but till now no action has been initiated. The manner in which bogus and fake voters were enrolled in to the

Graduates’ constituency voters’ list in the present ongoing MLC elections in AP is a matter of grave concern for democratic minded people. If such enrolling of bogus and fake voters is allowed, in the long run, our long cherished democratic values and fundamental rights would be washed away. In this backdrop, it is appealed to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to take immediate steps to direct the concerned Election Authorities and police officers in Andhra Pradesh to register and pursue criminal cases against those that are involved in the enrollment of the fake and bogus voters. Further, it is important to take the issue of inclusion of fake and bogus voters in the voters’ list to a logical conclusion in order to ensure such issues are not repeated in the future.