VIJAYAWADA: The HC on Tuesday questioned the State government on how local body elections could be held while the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls was underway, observing that changes to the rolls could affect voters’ rights.
Justice V Sujatha said voters whose names were deleted during the SIR would have an opportunity to appeal, potentially changing the final rolls. Holding elections with the existing rolls could therefore deprive people of their voting rights, she observed, adding that the concerns raised by the YSRCP were justified.
The HC questioned the purpose of conducting elections before completing the SIR. As a division bench headed by the Chief Justice was already hearing local body election cases, Justice Sujatha directed the Registry to place the YSRCP petition before the Bench, subject to Chief Justice’s approval.
YSRCP general secretary Lella Appireddy sought directions to conduct elections only after completing the SIR and publishing final rolls. Senior counsel Subramanya Sriram said the Election Commission of India was expected to complete the SIR by October 3. He sought elections based on final rolls or, rolls incorporating changes until nominations closed.
Advocate General Dammalapati Srinivas said roll revision was continuous and did not prevent elections. SEC counsel Kanaparthi Ajay said accepting the demand could delay elections by five to six months.