What happened
The Telangana Bharatiya Janata Party has said that the ongoing special intensive revision ( SIR) of electoral rolls in Telangana is creating anxiety for genuine voters. The party said the requirement to link present details with the 2002 electoral rolls is becoming a barrier for eligible electors.
In a memorandum to Chief Electoral Officer C. Sudarshan Reddy, the party sought a one-month extension. The memorandum also alleged that many households did not receive enumeration forms because some booth-level officers did not carry out the required door-to-door visits and instead worked from static locations that were inconvenient for voters.
The Bharatiya Janata Party also alleged that in Karimnagar about 7,000 names were removed on the ground of similar names even while the SIR was still under way. The party said such deletions undermine the credibility of the revision exercise.
The party further claimed that many booth-level officers (BLOs) lacked a clear understanding of the SIR and could not guide the public properly. It demanded the appointment of senior officers from outside Telangana as roll observers for Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy, and Medchal–Malkajgiri districts to reduce errors and improve impartiality in the final rolls.
Why the issue matters
Related current affairs
- India’s poll rolls a living document, says CEC
- EC revises phase 3 SIR schedule for four States
- Extend SIR deadline, Telangana Cong. urges poll officials
- Telangana SIR: up to 30% of electorate faces closer scrutiny
- Deletions in recent SIRs suggest arbitrary application of reasons (Telangana and Karnataka draft electoral rolls)
- Cong. alleges bulk voter purge bid in Uttarakhand