Hyderabad: Voter roll revision should be extended by one month to ensure transparent verification and prevent eligible voters from being excluded, a Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) delegation told Telangana Chief Electoral Officer C. Sudharshan Reddy on Monday.
The delegation, led by former MP B. Vinod Kumar and MLC L. Ramana, submitted a memorandum requesting the Election Commission of India to extend the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. They cited procedural shortcomings and limited time for verification.
Vinod Kumar later said the BRS had formed a special committee to coordinate with Booth Level Agents and Booth Level Officers during the exercise. He claimed party workers reported that several Booth Level Officers were not functioning consistently across Telangana.
He also alleged many eligible voters had not received enumeration forms despite only 20 days remaining for the exercise. According to the BRS, nearly 2.96 crore of Telangana’s 3.38 crore electors had received forms. However, authorities had digitised only 19 lakh forms as of July 5.
Voter roll revision concerns raised by BRS
Vinod Kumar claimed the 2002 electoral rolls used for reference were not readily available with EPIC numbers, making verification difficult. He also alleged the Election Commission portal frequently remained inaccessible.
Furthermore, he said the existing electoral rolls, largely available in Telugu, did not contain EPIC details for more than half the voters. He alleged Booth Level Officers had not received adequate training and lacked clear operational guidelines.
The BRS also raised concerns over the removal of voters because of minor spelling differences, inconsistencies in names, the absence of voter mapping information, limited transparency in identifying duplicate or deceased voters and the lack of acknowledgements for submitted forms.
The party maintained that extending the voter roll revision by one month would help officials complete the exercise more accurately while protecting the voting rights of eligible electors.
