YSRCP seeks polling booth-wise results of General Elections

Amaravati, Aug 27 (IANS) The YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) on Tuesday met Andhra Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Vivek Yadav and demanded the immediate release of polling booth-wise results of the General Elections 2024.

A delegation of YSRCP leaders met the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) at the Secretariat here and urged him to publish Form 20s, which includes polling booth-wise results for the recently concluded elections to the state Assembly and Lok Sabha.

The YSRCP delegation said despite the completion of the election and vote counting, polling details have not been made available in the required format.

The delegation comprising former ministers Ambati Rambabu and Merugu Nagarjuna, MLC Lella Appireddy, and other leaders highlighted inconsistencies in polling percentages announced at various stages of the election.

They mentioned that according to press notes released by the Election Commission of India (ECI), the polling percentage in Andhra Pradesh was recorded as 68.12 per cent at 8 p.m. on May 13, and 76.50 per cent by 11.45 p.m. the same night, and later revised to 80.66 per cent on May 17. However, YSRCP claimed that the votes counted surpassed these figures, reaching over 82 per cent.

The delegation also reminded the CEO of a formal request for the voting percentage information submitted on June 10, for which no response has been received. The YSRCP called for immediate action from the CEO and the ECI to publish Form 20s and resolve the inconsistencies in the reported polling data.

The YSRCP also requested the ECI to provide certain clarifications, particularly in light of the absence of Form 20 details, which would normally provide such data.

The party sought a detailed breakup of the percentage of votes polled in each Assembly segment and each Parliamentary Constituency segment at different times on November 13. The party has asked for information on the number of votes polled in each constituency after the official polling hours ended at 4 p.m., 5 p.m., or 6 p.m., as per the Election Notification.

The YSRCP has requested the names and numbers of polling stations where voting was allowed after the official closing time and clarification on how many voters were still in the queue when polling was extended. In the absence of Form 20 details, the party has also requested clarification on the final number of votes polled in each Assembly segment and Parliamentary Constituency based on the Election Day counting records.

Ambati Rambabu told media persons that several institutions, including ‘Vote for Democracy’, had raised doubts about the conduct of the elections, strengthening their suspicions about election results. He emphasised that it’s the Election Commission’s responsibility to clear these doubts and ensure transparency.

Former Minister Merugu Nagarjuna expressed further concerns about the functioning of the ECI, noting that despite the increased reported voter turnout, the poll panel had still not provided data for all 175 constituencies. He also highlighted issues with VVPAT-EVM mismatches and the security of EVM storage.

–IANS

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