Bhubaneswar/Koraput, Nov 6 : Voting by residents of Odisha’s disputed Kotia region in Andhra Pradesh’s rural elections has triggered a political controversy, with opposition parties BJD and Congress alleging that the incident exposed serious flaws in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The opposition parties claimed that the incident raised questions about the Election Commission’s voter list revision exercise, which they alleged had resulted in the deletion of crores of voters’ names across the country.
BJD Questions SIR Over Dual Voter Registration
BJD deputy leader in the Odisha Assembly and former minister Prasanna Acharya questioned how residents of Kotia could vote in elections in both Odisha and Andhra Pradesh despite the SIR exercise being conducted in both states.
Referring to the participation of Kotia residents in Andhra Pradesh’s rural elections on Thursday, Acharya alleged that several people were registered in the voter lists of both states.
“How can a citizen vote in two places?” he questioned, claiming that hundreds of Kotia residents had exercised their voting rights in Andhra Pradesh despite being enrolled in Odisha’s electoral rolls.
Acharya said the incident demonstrated that the SIR process had failed to identify and remove duplicate voter registrations. He also supported BJD president Naveen Patnaik’s demand for a review of the exercise.
The former minister alleged that the Kotia voting controversy had strengthened the opposition’s criticism of the Election Commission’s voter list revision process.
Odisha Congress Demands Fresh SIR Exercise
Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee president and former minister Jaydev Jena also criticised the SIR exercise.
He said the Andhra Pradesh rural elections had supported the concerns repeatedly raised by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi about irregularities in voter list revision.
Jena described the SIR process as faulty, politically motivated and lacking transparency. He demanded that the existing exercise be rejected and a fresh voter list revision process be conducted.
Odisha Government to Investigate Dual Voter IDs
Meanwhile, Odisha Law Minister Prithiviraj Harichandan said the state government would examine the issue of residents holding voter identity cards in both Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.
He said the Revenue Department should identify people with duplicate voter registrations and take legal action wherever violations are established.
The minister stated that the Odisha government had prevented Andhra Pradesh from establishing polling booths within Kotia. However, some residents crossed the state border to participate in the neighbouring state’s elections.
Koraput Collector Rejects 40% Kotia Voter Turnout Claim
The Koraput district administration acknowledged that some residents of Kotia had travelled to Andhra Pradesh to cast their votes.
However, Koraput Collector Manoj Satyawan Mahajan disputed the claim that around 40 per cent of Kotia voters had participated in the elections.
According to the Collector, approximately 10 per cent of Kotia voters had exercised their franchise in Andhra Pradesh’s panchayat elections.
He explained that the 40 per cent polling figure reported by Andhra Pradesh officials was based on the combined voting recorded at a polling station serving several villages, including villages located in Andhra Pradesh.
The Collector said residents of four to five Kotia villages had travelled across the border to vote. However, their population was much smaller than the number suggested by the overall polling percentage.
Odisha Says Polling Booths Were Prevented Inside Kotia
Mahajan said the district administration had focused on two objectives: preventing Andhra Pradesh from setting up polling stations within Kotia and discouraging residents from participating in elections conducted by the neighbouring state.
He maintained that the administration had successfully prevented the establishment of polling booths inside Kotia, although some villagers still travelled to Andhra Pradesh to cast their votes.
The Collector reiterated that Kotia was an integral part of Odisha and said the government would continue development activities in the region.
He added that the administration would focus on improving infrastructure, creating livelihood opportunities and promoting tourism in Kotia beyond the election period.
1,150 Kotia Voters Participate in Andhra Pradesh Rural Polls
Earlier, Andhra Pradesh election officials reported that 1,150 out of 2,899 registered voters in Kotia had participated in the Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituencies (MPTC) and Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituencies (ZPTC) elections.
According to the officials, this represented a voter turnout of approximately 40 per cent.
The difference between the figures presented by Andhra Pradesh election officials and the Odisha district administration has added another dimension to the controversy.
The Kotia voting issue has now become a political flashpoint, with BJD and Congress questioning the reliability of the SIR exercise and the Odisha government promising to examine allegations of dual voter registration.
