Deccan News Service | Hyderabad

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday informed the Telangana High Court that it is examining allegations of nearly 12,000 illegal bulk additions and fraudulent voter entries in the electoral rolls ahead of the Jubilee Hills Assembly by-election scheduled for November 11.

The court was hearing a lunch motion petition filed by BRS candidate Maganti Sunitha Gopinath and BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao, who sought a judicial directive for an inquiry into their representations submitted to the Telangana Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) on October 13 and 14. The representations alleged electoral malpractices and stressed the importance of safeguarding the integrity of the electoral process.

Senior Advocate Dama Seshadri Naidu, representing the petitioners, highlighted multiple registrations, sudden and unverified bulk additions at certain polling booths, and estimated that approximately 12,000 outside individuals may have been illegally registered as voters through the “back door.”

The ECI, through its counsel, clarified that updating and revising electoral rolls is an ongoing process and not limited to any single election. The Commission has called for a report from the District Election Officer (DEO) regarding the allegations and confirmed that all representations are being examined.

The Telangana High Court observed that the petitioners approached the court prematurely. “The updation of electoral rolls is underway until the last day of filing nominations. Moreover, the representations alleging multiple registrations and fraudulent entries are also being looked into, for which a report has been called from the DEO. Therefore, no specific direction is required from this Court at present,” the Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice G.M. Mohiuddin stated while disposing of the petition.

The by-election notification for Jubilee Hills was issued on October 13, and the last date for filing nominations is October 21, with polling scheduled for November 11 and counting on November 14.

The development underscores the vigilance of electoral authorities and the ongoing scrutiny of the electoral rolls in one of Hyderabad’s most high-profile constituencies.