73 lakh voters deleted in Telangana SIR drive

Telangana's Chief Electoral Officer has released draft electoral rolls under the Special Intensive Revision, deleting around 73 lakh electors from the state's voter list. Of the 3.38 crore electors recorded on June 10, only 2.64 crore (78.30%) submitted enumeration forms by August 10. The remaining 73.39 lakh entries were flagged as absent, shifted, deceased, or duplicate enrolments, with 57.46 lakh marked as permanently shifted or absent and 9.22 lakh as deceased.

The CEO said 92 lakh electors will receive notices from Electoral Registration Officers. Of these, 60 lakh notices involve anomalies such as name or age mismatches, while 32 lakh concern electors who could not be mapped to the 2002 rolls. Hyderabad district recorded the highest deletions at 19.41 lakh, shrinking its voter list to 27.95 lakh. Malakpet saw the most deletions among constituencies at 1.47 lakh.

The claims and objections process began August 17 and runs until September 16, with final disposal by October 15. The final electoral roll is scheduled for publication on October 19. Sources report nearly one in four votes in Telangana is under scrutiny, which could affect upcoming elections.