Hyderabad: Congress In-charge for the Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency Mohammed Waliullah Sameer on Saturday attacked the AIMIM leadership. He accused the party of failing to organise any major public movement over the Hyderabad voter exclusions. As many as 9.19 lakh electors are missing from the draft electoral rolls across the constituency after the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
Sameer said the seven Assembly constituencies in the Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat had a combined pre-SIR electorate of 23,29,343. They are Malakpet, Karwan, Goshamahal, Charminar, Chandrayangutta, Yakutpura and Bahadurpura. Of these electors, 9,19,088, or about 39.46%, fell into the Absent, Shifted, Dead and Duplicate (ASDD) categories. They did not appear in the draft roll published on August 17.
Yakutpura recorded the highest exclusion at 1,54,982 electors. Chandrayangutta followed with 1,48,869, and Malakpet with 1,47,799. Karwan recorded 1,41,766 exclusions, Bahadurpura 1,21,350, Goshamahal 1,10,148 and Charminar 94,174.
Hyderabad voter exclusions: Sameer questions Owaisi’s response
“Nearly four out of every 10 electors in the Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency were missing from the draft roll. This is an unprecedented situation. Yet AIMIM, which has represented Hyderabad in Parliament for decades, has failed to launch any serious mass movement to protect the voting rights of the people,” Sameer said.
He said AIMIM president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi had largely confined his response to statements, social media posts and occasional warnings. In Sameer’s view, this fell short given the enormous scale of exclusions in Owaisi’s own parliamentary constituency.
“When the names of lakhs of voters are at stake, tweets and statements are not enough. A party claiming to represent Hyderabad should have been on the streets, mobilising people, confronting irregularities at every booth and continuously pressuring the Election Commission,” he said.
Congress says it raised the alarm early
Sameer said the Congress, in contrast, had taken the issue directly to the election authorities and the streets. Congress leaders submitted representations to the Chief Electoral Officer. They also exposed alleged irregularities in the SIR process and raised objections over suspicious Form 7 applications. In addition, the party organised demonstrations demanding protection of genuine voters.
Congress workers and Booth Level Agents have also assisted electors on the ground, he said. They identified discrepancies and helped genuine voters protect their names in the electoral rolls.
Sameer contested the 2024 Lok Sabha election from Hyderabad against Owaisi. He also served earlier as Hyderabad District Congress Committee president. He said he had repeatedly raised concerns over alleged interference by unauthorised persons in the SIR process in parts of the Old City.
“The Congress did not wait for the problem to become a headline. Our workers were on the ground, our leaders approached the Election Commission and we publicly challenged every attempt that could deprive genuine citizens of their voting rights,” he said.
Hyderabad district itself accounted for about 19.41 lakh ASDD exclusions during the SIR, Sameer said. He called the situation particularly serious for the city.
Sameer alleges AIMIM’s selective approach
Sameer said the huge reduction in the draft roll should have become the single biggest political issue for the sitting Hyderabad MP. “If almost 40% of the electorate in a parliamentary constituency disappears from the draft roll, what could be a bigger issue for its elected MP? The people of Hyderabad have every right to ask why there was no sustained agitation, no large-scale mobilisation and no continuous street-level campaign by AIMIM,” he said.
He also alleged that AIMIM had taken a selective approach. According to him, the party became vocal only after controversies over Form 7 applications surfaced.
“The danger to voters did not begin with Form 7. The warning signs were visible when lakhs of electors were placed in ASDD categories. Congress raised the alarm from the beginning. AIMIM woke up only when the issue became politically unavoidable,” he said.
Final rolls due on November 9
Sameer stressed that the August 17 figures represent exclusions from the draft roll, not final deletions. The Election Commission is still processing claims, objections and notices. It will publish the final electoral rolls on November 9. He said this makes sustained political and legal intervention even more important.
“The battle is not over. There is still an opportunity to restore every genuine voter. Congress will continue to pursue every case, press the election authorities and fight against any wrongful exclusion until the final rolls are published,” he said.
“Hyderabad does not need symbolic politics on an issue as serious as voting rights. Lakhs of citizens need representation on the ground. The people will judge who actually fought for their vote and who remained confined to statements,” Sameer added.
