Telangana Could See 74 Lakh Voters Dropped From Electoral Rolls as SIR Deadline Ends

Telangana’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls is set to enter a crucial phase on Monday, with officials estimating that nearly 74 lakh names could be removed from the current voter list after the exercise is completed.

The Election Commission has intensified its monitoring as more than 20% of enumeration forms are yet to be received or processed. Officials have urged voters who have not submitted their forms to do so immediately and advised those whose enumeration is incomplete to contact their respective Booth Level Officers (BLOs) before the deadline.

According to the existing electoral rolls, Telangana has 3,38,26,448 registered voters. So far, enumeration forms covering 2,64,11,118 voters have been digitised. The gap has raised concerns that the final electoral roll could be significantly smaller once the revision is completed.

The exercise is expected to identify and remove entries relating to deceased voters, people who have shifted to other locations and duplicate registrations. Based on the forms processed so far, officials estimate that the state could see a reduction of around 20% in its voter base, translating into roughly 74 lakh fewer names.

The impact could be considerably higher in Hyderabad’s core urban areas. Officials expect the voter count in these constituencies to potentially fall by around 40%, primarily because of migration and other discrepancies in existing electoral records.

The next major milestone will be the publication of the draft electoral rolls on August 17. From that date, voters will have until September 16 to submit claims and objections regarding the draft list.

The Election Commission will subsequently issue notices and undertake verification and disposal of claims and objections. The process is scheduled to continue until October 15, after which the final electoral rolls are expected to be published on October 19.