Congress Plans To Enrol 7 Lakh Graduate Voters

The Congress has set a target of enrolling around seven lakh voters in each of the two Graduate MLC constituencies in Telangana that are scheduled to go to polls in March 2027. The party has stepped up efforts to bring more graduates, particularly young voters, into the electoral rolls.

The tenure of sitting Graduate MLCs — Surabhi Vani Devi of Hyderabad-Rangareddy-Mahbubnagar and (Chintapandu Naveen Kumar (Teenmar Mallanna) of Warangal-Khammam-Nalgonda constituencies — will end in March 2027. The voter enrolment process for the elections began on Monday as per the schedule announced by the Election Commission of India.

The Congress has constituted special teams across all six undivided districts covered by the two constituencies to reach out to eligible graduates and facilitate their enrolment. A control room is also being set up at Gandhi Bhavan to monitor the enrolment process on a daily basis and track progress constituency-wise.

The target assumes significance as both constituencies recorded just over five lakh registered voters in the previous 2021 elections. In the Hyderabad-Rangareddy-Mahbubnagar Graduates constituency, 5,17,883 graduates had enrolled as voters in 2021, more than double the 2.3 lakh registered in the 2015 election. The Warangal-Khammam-Nalgonda Graduates constituency had 5,05,565 registered voters in the 2021 election.

Congress MP Chamala Kiran Kumar Reddy, who is monitoring the enrolment exercise in the Warangal-Khammam-Nalgonda constituency, said the exercise posed a major challenge as even graduates whose names figured in the previous electoral rolls have to enrol afresh to become eligible to vote in the Graduate MLC elections.

He said the TPCC leadership had decided to rope in in-charge ministers and MLAs in the respective districts to take responsibility for enrolment after the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) process concluded in early November.

For now, prospective Congress ticket aspirants and local party leaders have begun taking up enrollment efforts on their own. They are contacting eligible graduates and circulating registration links to encourage them to submit applications.

The Congress was not alone in focusing on voter enrolment, with political parties beginning efforts to expand the graduate voter base, particularly among young voters. The "GenZ factor" is expected to be a significant feature of the enrolment exercise, with parties reaching out to first-time eligible graduates through digital platforms and direct mobilisation.

According to the ECI schedule, the notification for enrolment was issued on September 28. The last date for submission of Form-18 applications is November 6. The draft voter list to be published on November 25. Claims and objections can be filed from November 25 to December 10. The deadline for disposal of claims and objections is December 25, while the final electoral roll is scheduled to be published on December 30.