Telangana electoral rolls: 73 lakh voters excluded, 92 lakh to face verification

The Election Commission of India has released the draft electoral rolls for Telangana following a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. The draft roll excludes 73.39 lakh electors, representing approximately 21.7% of the state’s 3.38 crore total electorate. These individuals were flagged as deceased, permanently shifted, absent, or having multiple enrolments.

Additionally, 92 lakh voters are set to receive notices to verify their authenticity. This group includes roughly 60 lakh people flagged for anomalies—such as discrepancies in names or parentage compared to 2002 records—and 32 lakh people categorized as unmapped due to a failure to establish links with previous rolls. Chief Electoral Officer C Sudarshan Reddy clarified that receiving a notice does not mean automatic disqualification; it is an opportunity for electors to clarify errors.

The claims and objections period is open from August 17 to September 16, allowing voters to use Form-6 for inclusion or correction. The process for disposing of these claims will continue until October 15, with the final electoral roll scheduled for publication on October 19.

The revision has drawn political scrutiny. Telangana Congress president B Mahesh Kumar Goud criticized the requirement to link records with 2002 rolls, arguing it disproportionately affects the poor who may lack necessary documentation.