Madurai, Nov 25: Allegations of fraud have emerged in the issuing of voter-registration application forms in the Madurai district of Tamil Nadu, with former minister Sellur Raju lodging a formal complaint about the matter.
According to Raju, around ten legislative-assembly constituencies in Madurai have been impacted. He claims that in these constituencies, applications labeled as “SIR” (Special Identification Register) were distributed, yet only roughly 35 – 40 per cent of eligible voters reportedly received the forms.
He further alleges that some application records were uploaded online without the actual physical forms being handed out to voters. In the West constituency, he says, data on the website claims that all applications have been issued, but in reality many voters have not been given access to these forms.
Raju met with Madurai District Collector Praveen Kumar to submit his complaint, stating that despite promises to distribute forms door-to-door, multiple attempts at contacting voters went unfulfilled.
Highlighting the possibility of misuse, he asked whether all the application forms were under the control of the ruling party. Raju emphasised that unless election-officials promptly and transparently ensure forms reach every eligible voter, the system is vulnerable to abuse.
In response, the District Collector stated that work would be completed within the time frame set by the Election Commission of India, and that any remaining applicants could still submit forms by December 4. However, Raju questioned how meaningful participation would be under such conditions.