Separate polling booths for SC, STs demanded

By Our Special Correspondent

VIJAYAWADA, AUG 2. The former MP, Mr. K. Venkata Krishna Reddy, has urged the President, Mr. K.R. Narayanan, to direct the Election Commission to set up separate booths for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes to enable them exercise their franchise without any fear or favour.

Addressing presspersons here on Thursday, he said he would be meeting the President in New Delhi tomorrow to apprise him of the injustice being meted out to Dalits in the absence of separate booths. He pointed out that upper caste landlords were resorting to large-scale rigging in some villages of Narsaraopet Assembly constituency by scaring the Dalits away, taking advantage of the fact that the booth was located far away from their houses.

He gave statistics of votes polled in 15 villages in Narsaraopet Assembly constituency in Guntur district to prove his point that the TDP resorted to rigging.

Though the average polling percentage was only 65, the 15 villages reported more than 85 per cent polling. Also, all the votes were cast in favour of the TDP. He said following his complaint, the Election Commission deputed a senior-level officer who directed that separate booths should be set up for dalits in these villages in the 1999 Lok Sabha elections. It helped dalits of Yellamanda village to cast their votes for the first time and Congress polled 1,169 votes against 951 by the TDP. The Congress used to poll votes only in single digit before. But, the separate booth was cancelled for the dalits in the recent local bodies elections and the TDP as usual polled all the votes.

Mr. Reddy said he would also meet the Election Commission members to apprise them of the need to set up separate booths for dalits in their own colonies so that they could exercise their franchise. He alleged that the TDP had been resorting to large- scale rigging in its stronghold villages to poll cent per cent votes to make its victory certain irrespective of its losses in other villages.

He said he would also meet the AICC president, Ms. Sonia Gandhi.

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Section  : Southern States
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