Telangana SIR: 94 lakh voters face hearings in 60-day deadline

The Story in Brief

Telangana faces a massive electoral logjam after the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) enumeration phase left nearly 94 lakh electors needing hearings before Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), The Hindu reports. The problems stem from a botched door-to-door campaign: Booth Level Officers often failed to visit homes three times as promised and instead distributed forms from central locations, leaving many voters confused about how to fill them. A total of 61.4 lakh anomalies were found in submitted forms, which along with over 32 lakh unmapped voters create an impossible workload for just 119 EROs, who have 60 days from August 17 to October 15 to dispose of claims and objections.

In Andhra Pradesh, CEO Vivek Yadav reviewed SIR progress and ordered districts to speed up hearings, setting special campaign days on August 22, 23, 29, and 30 at all polling stations. The New Indian Express reports that BLOs and political party agents will be present to assist with roll verifications. The ECI guidelines require thorough disposal of all claims and objections.