A representative image showing a police report.
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Hyderabad: Hyderabad police have registered a case against ruling Congress leader V Naveen Yadav for allegedly distributing voter identity cards in the Jubilee Hills Assembly constituency, where a bypoll is scheduled for November 11.
Acting on a complaint filed by an election official, Madhuranagar police booked Yadav under relevant sections of the Representation of the People Act on Monday.
According to police sources, Yadav had allegedly collected OTPs from applicants, downloaded their voter ID cards, and handed them over to beneficiaries during a small ceremony held.
Though the incident reportedly took place about a month ago, it came to light only now, prompting the police action.
The controversy deepened on Monday after BJP Lok Sabha member M Raghunandan Rao complained to the Telangana Chief Electoral Officer, alleging that Yadav had distributed voter ID cards at a programme organised in Jubilee Hills. He pointed out that, as per Election Commission guidelines, only Booth Level Officers (BLOs) are authorised to distribute voter ID cards, and that too under the direct supervision of the EC and local authorities.
Naveen Yadav, a key aspirant for the Congress ticket from Jubilee Hills, has been actively campaigning in the constituency for the past few days well before the Election Commission formally announced the bypoll schedule. Congress is said to be contemplating to give the Jubilee Hills ticket to a BC candidate.
Reacting sharply, BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao took to social media to question the propriety of Naveen Yadav’s actions. “A Congress leader, Naveen Yadav, an aspirant in the Jubilee Hills by-election, is distributing EPIC voter cards. Who is he to distribute voter cards?
"Has the EC given a franchise to the Congress party in Telangana? How is this happening!? Isn’t this a bigger crime than ‘vote chori’, Mr Rahul Gandhi?” KTR asked.