Telangana BJP seeks one-month extension of SIR, cites voter anxiety

Telangana BJP on Wednesday highlighted concerns over the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, stating that the “strict requirement to link current details to the 2002 electoral rolls has created significant anxiety and barriers for genuine voters”.

In a memorandum submitted to Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) C. Sudarshan Reddy, the party sought a one-month extension of the exercise. It also alleged that many households had not received enumeration forms as several Booth Level Officers (BLOs) had “bypassed” mandatory door-to-door visits and instead operated from static locations that were inconvenient for voters.

Party leaders Marri Shashidhar Reddy and Ashok Venula, in the memorandum, alleged that around 7,000 names had been removed from the electoral rolls in Karimnagar on the grounds of similarities in names, even as the SIR exercise was still under way. They said this made a “mockery” of the Election Commission of India’s SIR process.

The leaders further alleged that many BLOs lacked a “basic, uniform understanding” of the SIR process and were unable to provide accurate guidance to the public, leading to widespread confusion.

The BJP called for the appointment of senior officers from outside Telangana as roll observers for Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy and Medchal-Malkajgiri districts to ensure an impartial process, inquire into alleged lapses and initiate corrective action.

The party also sought a meeting involving the CEO, State Intelligence and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to address concerns regarding the presence of illegal foreign residents on electoral rolls. Additionally, it raised the issue of the alleged “deliberate” alteration of house numbers in enumeration forms in Karimnagar, claiming that it had effectively disenfranchised affected residents.

The party also flagged the discovery of discarded voter identity cards in Jalpally under the limits of the Pahadi Sharif police station. Refresher training for BLOs and the issuance of simplified multilingual guidelines in Telugu, English and Urdu for the public are necessary, particularly in light of what it described as misleading messaging by some senior officials, the BJP said in its memorandum.