In a bid to keep its vote bank intact, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has accorded a top priority to checking the voters’ list at all levels.
The party unit of Tirupati parliamentary constituency comprising Tirupati, Satyavedu, Srikalahasti, Gudur, Venkatagiri, Sullurpet and Sarvepalle Assembly segments has been holding marathon meetings with the stakeholders for the last two days, where the leaders laid emphasis on the need for scrupulously checking for discrepancies in the voter list, indirectly hinting at the possibility of the ruling party misusing the official machinery to get ‘some section of voters’ added toor removed from the list.
“It has happened in the past. The YSR Congress Party is known for the same. This is why we want to keep a watch on the voters’ list in every Assembly constituency,” TDP Tirupati (LS) constituency convener G. Narasimha Yadav told The Hindu.
Srikalahasti and Gudur municipalities, both falling under this Lok Sabha constituency, have not gone to polls along with other civic bodies last year due to various reasons.
Poll notification
The TDP expects issuing of notification for the same after the legal hurdles are cleared. Though there are divergent views on whether the Election Commission will issue notification for just two local bodies, the TDP wants to stay well ahead of the YSRCP.
The exercise for the Tirupati segment got extended on Thursday at the residence of convener and former MLA M. Sugunamma, where copies of the revised voters’ list were shared with the booth conveners, ward presidents and the cluster in-charge to check for the veracity.
As part of strengthening its frontal organisations, the TDP has already formed local committees and appointed office-bearers for its youth wing and the process is on for its women’s wing. “We know the importance of filling up posts at the ground level to vest responsibility with our cadre. The right candidates will be chosen for the posts in the youth, students, women and trade union wings shortly,” Mr. Yadav said.
