No 'irregularities in Bobbli LS bypoll: Govt

Hyderabad, Dec 9 (UNI) Even as the opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) threatened a legal battle over alleged irregularities in counting of votes polled in the byelection to the Bobbili Lok Sabha seat. The Andhra Pradesh Government today refuted the charge.

The Returning Officer had declared the result only after receiving written authorisation from the four Election Commission observers from outside the state who were present throughout the counting process, a release from the State General Administration (Elections) Department said here tonight.

Meanwhile, TDP leader C Ramachandriah told a press conference here that the party would move the court against the verdict and demanded the suspension of the Returning Officer concerned.

Congress candidate Botsa Jhansi, wife of Minister Botsa Satyanarayana, had secured 334,321 votes over her nearest TDP rival K Appala Naidu who polled 334,164 votes, in the by-poll necessitated by the death of sitting TDP member Pydithali Naidu.

On reports of difference of only 695 votes after completion of the counting, the state government clarified that following demands from media and analysts, the Returning Officer had hurriedly collected the figures from polling officers to give an idea of the extent of polling and not the exact number of votes polled, which was available in Form 17 C.

The figure of 7,03,400, including 87 valid postal ballots was the correct figure of valid votes polled and counted, it said, adding this was obtained by totalling all electronic voting machine figures and later verifed by the observers.

Whenever any EVM was taken up for counting in the first stage the total votes polled as per the EVM was taken into account. The total votes polled as per the EVM were then tallied with the number of votes recorded in part II of Form 17 C. This was done in the presence of counting agents of candidates whose signatures were obtained to confirm the verification.

All candidates were provided an opportunity to examine the polling attendance registers and other polling documents on December five prior to counting in case of polling stations where polling exceeded 80 per cent. The representatives of the candidates'had also expressed satisfacton after scrutiny of records, it added.

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