Close on the heels of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leaders meeting the Election Commission of India (ECI) over the alleged inclusion of bogus voters in the electoral rolls in Andhra Pradesh, the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) trained its guns on the ‘Bhavishyathu ku Guarantee’ programme of the TDP.
The YSRCP accused the TDP of collecting the personal data of voters through the door-to-door campaign. “The TDP is violating the regulations by collecting voters’ details. We will take up the issue with the ECI,” YSRCP State general secretary Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy told the media at Tadepalli on November 21 (Tuesday).
He said that the TDP leaders were issuing ‘Babu Surety- Bhavishyathu ku Guarantee’ letter signed by the party national president N Chandrababu Naidu with a promise that each voter would get ₹2.4 lakh in five years, and the benefits would be extended from June 2024.
“Under which law the TDP was issuing such guarantee letters? It is not a promise made in the party manifesto. The TDP is hoodwinking the people with false promises. Personal details including phone numbers of the voters are being collected. It is a clear case of violation of provisions of the People’s Representation Act, and ECI rules,” said Mr. Ramakrishna Reddy.
He alleged that the TDP was violating the rights of citizens to privacy by collecting voters’ details. “The TDP government did a similar thing in 2019 by floating the Seva Mitras concept. It had collected public data through Seva Mitras, and deleted the names of more than 50 lakh votes. Form 7 was automatically generated to delete the voters’ names based on the information provided to the Seva Mitras. The YSRCP took up the matter with the ECI, and the names of 30 lakh voters were restored,” said he said.
