SOURCE :- SIASAT NEWS
Hyderabad: The Election Commission of India (ECI) may extend the deadline for distribution of pending notices in the ongoing claims and objections phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Telangana by two to three weeks, reports said on Wednesday, September 2.
This comes in the wake of Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy’s letter to the commission requesting the same.
According to official sources, there is a “99% chance” that the deadline will be extended, said the Deccan Chronicle.
This is likely because the notice distribution exercise should be completed by September 16, according to the current schedule. Yet, approximately 60 lakh notices are yet to be served out of a total of 93 lakh.
“We will write to the ECI proposing the extension. We do not want to take a chance, as any haste could result in lakhs of voters not receiving the notices, and the responsibility will be on us. This is a democracy, and people should get a chance. All eligible voters should get an opportunity to safeguard their vote,” it quoted a source as saying.
What CM wrote to CEC, CEO
On August 29, the CM had written to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), Gyanesh Kumar, and the state CEO, Sudarshan Reddy, seeking that voters served notices be given three to four weeks to respond and produce the required documents.
He pointed out that, with less than a month for raising objections, the final publication of the electoral rolls, which is October 19, be extended.
“I would request that this period be extended by four weeks so that electors whose names are missing from the draft roll – the ASDD class particularly – have sufficient time to find out where they stand and to file Form 6 claims. Since no election is due in Telangana in the near future, such an extension may kindly be considered,” he had written.
The Telangana CM appealed to the ECI to also have public reading of the draft rolls, to allow a reasonable period to reply to notices, to open help desks, and to also set a list of documents that electors can actually obtain to use for the SIR.
SOURCE : SIASAT
