Haryana Congress raises concerns over alleged irregularities in voter list

Chandigarh: Intensifying its attack on the BJP-led govt in Haryana, Congress leaders on Wednesday raised concerns over alleged irregularities in voter lists, just four days ahead of polling for seven civic bodies in the state.Citing figures from a reportedly conducted physical verification of the Panchkula municipal corporation voter list, Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) president Rao Narendra Singh and Rajya Sabha MP and AICC general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala accused the BJP govt of engaging in a "systematic conspiracy of vote theft."The leaders presented documents listing 17,086 "duplicate voter entries", identified during the physical scrutiny of updated voter lists across all 20 wards of Panchkula. According to them, 8,543 voters were found to be "registered twice", leading to duplication.Rao Narendra Singh alleged that similar issues had surfaced in other parts of the country earlier and were now being repeated in Haryana's urban local body polls. Referring to earlier remarks by Rahul Gandhi, Rao said concerns over voter list manipulation were raised at the national level. He added that weeks of examination of Panchkula's voter data by Congress workers revealed significant discrepancies, suggesting the possibility of a larger pattern across multiple municipalities.Surjewala criticised what he termed the BJP's "triple-engine govt", calling it instead a case of "triple corruption", and claimed that public sentiment was turning against the ruling party in urban areas.He alleged that the BJP, sensing growing public dissatisfaction ahead of the civic polls, resorted to manipulating voter lists. Memo submitted to SECAccording to Surjewala, a formal memorandum, along with detailed evidence of duplicate entries, was submitted to the State Election Commission and the returning officer in the presence of local MLA Chander Mohan. He alleged that such large-scale discrepancies could not have occurred without the involvement of officials responsible for preparing voter lists, along with tacit support from the ruling govt. The seven civic bodies going to polls on May 10 include municipal corporations of Panchkula, Ambala and Sonipat; the municipal council of Rewari; and municipal committees of Sampla, Uklana and Dharuhera. Polling will be conducted to elect both members and heads of these bodies. MSID:: 130857366 413 |