TGPWU’s Shaik Salauddin claims name deleted from voter list

Hyderabad: The Founding President of Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union (TGPWU), Shaik Salauddin, has alleged that his name has been deleted from the electoral rolls.

During a public meeting on July 4, organised at the Sundarayya Vignyana Kendram public library in Hyderabad, he said that despite having voted four times, he found that his name was deleted.

Salauddin said when the Special Intensive Revision started in Telangana, he checked his voter details online on the official Election Commission website. “My name was not there,” he told The News Minute. Initially, he brushed it off, assuming there was “some technical glitch.” He found it suspicious when everyone in his family received an enumeration form except him.

“When I approached my Booth Level Officer (BLO), he said he wasn’t sure why my form didn’t arrive,” said the 40-year-old trade unionist.

Name transferred to a different house, then deleted entirely

As a resident of the Prem Nagar colony, Salauddin’s name was on the Amberpet constituency’s voter list. The BLO informed Salauddin that his vote had been transferred to a different house before being completely deleted.

According to Salauddin, the only solution given to him was to fill Form 6, used for the inclusion of a first-time voter or when shifting to a new constituency. “I have neither shifted, nor am I a first time voter. I will fill Form 6, that’s not an issue. But I am an old voter, why should I be considered a new voter now?” he asked.

The TGPWU president said leaders become MLAs, MPs, mayors because of the vote he cast. “Considering how SIR has played out, I worry that my citizenship will also be subject to questioning,” he said.

“I was part of the Telangana agitation and fought for statehood. But now, if I want to apply for a passport, if I want to contest in future polls, I have no proof that I am a longstanding citizen,” Salauddin said.