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YSRCP General Secretary and MLC Lella Appi Reddy urged the Andhra Pradesh State Election Commission to conduct a comprehensive statewide review of ward delimitation before finalising electoral rolls in Gram Panchayats, Municipalities and Municipal Corporations.
According to the YSRCP state office, "In a letter addressed to the State Election Commissioner, Appi Reddy said serious geographical and electoral discrepancies had been reported from several local bodies across the State." He said ward boundaries were drawn without properly considering geographical continuity, recognised localities, natural boundaries or the proper sequence of door numbers. Voters from the same street, colony or residential area were divided among different wards, while distant and unrelated localities were combined into a single ward. Citing Prasannayapalli Gram Panchayat in Raptadu Mandal of Anantapur district, he said voters from the same localities and families were scattered across its 14 wards. Some wards also covered disconnected areas, causing confusion and inconvenience to voters and candidates. He said similar discrepancies were found in Tenali Municipality, where the number of wards was increased from 40 to 52. Problems were identified in Wards 28, 30, 35, 42 and 52, with voters from the same address or locality placed in different wards. Appi Reddy requested the Commission to conduct field verification, examine all objections fairly and correct the discrepancies. He sought publication of revised ward maps and electoral rolls for public verification. He also urged the Commission to keep the delimitation process in abeyance wherever objections remained unresolved and ensure a fair, scientific and transparent process. The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026 was introduced in the Lok Sabha on April 16 to expand the Lok Sabha's strength to 850 seats and expedite the implementation of the Women's Reservation Bill passed in 2023. However, the bill was not passed as it failed to secure the constitutionally required special two-thirds majority of members present and voting in Parliament. (ANI)
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