Hyderabad, Nov 6 (IANS) Accusing the ruling Congress party of planning mass rigging in the by-election to Jubilee Hills Assembly constituency here, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) on Thursday sought the intervention of the Election Commission of India to ensure a free and fair election.

The BRS demanded the deployment of central forces throughout the constituency for the November 11 bypoll. It urged the Election Commission of India (ECI) to install CCTV cameras and live webcasting systems in all polling stations under central monitoring.

In a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner, BRS parliamentary party leader K. R. Suresh Reddy sought deployment of central forces and preventive measures against mass rigging, fake identity card creation, booth capturing and intimidation by the Congress party and its candidate Naveen Yadav.

The BRS mentioned that the Congress party’s election campaign is being spearheaded by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and his entire cabinet.

“Revanth Reddy is campaigning in the constituency for six days at a stretch. It appears his continuation as the Chief Minister is hanging on winning this bye election, as the Congress Party failed to win a single seat in the General Elections held in November 2023 in the Hyderabad Region.”

Stating that there are substantial votes of minorities in the constituency, the BRS brought to the ECI’s notice that the Congress party inducted former cricketer Mohammed Azharuddin into the Cabinet a few days back, even though he is neither a member of the legislative assembly nor the council, to influence minority voters.

“The Chief Minister is also the Home Minister and a reign of terror is unleashed on the rank and file of the BRS Party by way of abduction of important local leaders, beating, terrorising and slapping notices by the Municipal Authorities on BRS Cadre who are engaged in small and petty business, alleging illegal construction and unauthorised businesses, etc.”

The BRS also told the ECI that the MIM is supporting the Congress candidate and using its rank and file to identify the active BRS Party minority leaders of the constituency and targeting them to win them over or silence them.

It alleged that the local police and civic administration are working as agents of the ruling party as they are under the control of the ruling party and the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) and District Election Officer (DEO) are neither effective nor showing any inclination to ensure the free and fair election as their postings and transfers are in the hands of the ruling Congress Party.

“From various sources, it is confirmed that the ruling Congress Party prepared for mass rigging and identity fraud in the voting scheduled on the 11th of this month. Since the minority women voters wear the Burqa, they have shifted scores of Muslim women from various parts of the Hyderabad city to the Jubilee Hills Constituency, more particularly from the Old City part of the Hyderabad city, for mass rigging,” reads the BRS letter

Credible reports indicate that fake and duplicate voter IDs are being generated by misusing Aadhaar-linked data and photocopies of genuine voters’ cards. These fabricated identities are being distributed to non-resident individuals brought from outside the constituency to illegally cast votes for the Congress candidate, it added.

–IANS

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