HYDERABAD: The dust hadn’t settled on the December 7 elections when several analysts began flooding electors with calls on whom they had voted for. The surveys haven’t ended yet and people continue to receive automated calls across the city, with key constituencies such as Kukatpally and Uppal reporting the highest number of calls.
Voters Express spoke to said a list of significant candidates contesting from their constituency was read out to them and they were asked to indicate for whom they had cast their vote. The method, poll pundits say, is relatively new and raises concerns about personal data being misused. “I don’t want to reveal whom I have voted for. It is private information,” fumed Sana Afreen, who has received two such calls now. If you’ve voted for Praja Kutami press 1, press 2 if you have voted for any other party,’ the call said,” she tweeted.
“They found our numbers despite the fact that we never shared it,” she said. In Kukatpally, several electors got automated calls asking if they had cast their vote for either TRS candidate Madhavaram Krishna Rao, TDP nominee Nandamuri Suhasini or BLF pick P Harish Reddy or others. Several experts told Express the practice of enquiring about people’s votes should be disallowed immediately by the election commission or the police.
“Anyone who responds to such calls, will be branded as ‘associated’ with a particular party,” M Padmanabha Reddy of Forum for Good Governance said. “In villages, such practices are common when voters are given money in exchange for votes “ he pointed out.However, Election Commission officials, feel matter of much concern. “The EC has given a 48-hour ban on campaigning, people and political parties can do after that,” an EC official said.