Over 5 Lakh Votes Deleted Ahead of SIR Deadline
By Tuesday, 5,02,873 votes had been deleted from 5,76,030 applications.
Hyderabad: The ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral apart, over five lakh votes appear to have been deleted through Form‑7 this year, including more than a lakh from Hyderabad.
Most deletions were recorded in the pre‑SIR period, including those flagged as Demographically Similar Entries.
Before the exercise began on June 15, 4,54,338 deletions were made via 5,13,375 applications.
During the ‘claims and objections’ period between October 8 and 26 as part of the SIR, 35,511 deletions were made based on 38,279 Form 7 applications.
By Tuesday, 5,02,873 votes had been deleted from 5,76,030 applications.
Hyderabad accounted for 1,00,687 deletions, followed by Rangareddy (50,979), Nizamabad (35,277) and Karimnagar (24,713).
Officials said they could not clarify individual cases due to lack of details.
Activists pointed to the use of AI‑powered software such as ERONET, claiming deletions may have been carried out online without physical submission of forms.
“Similar to other States, even in Telangana voters might have been deleted during pre‑SIR mapping,” said M.A. Mujeeb Ayyub, an activist.
Congress leaders termed the deletions massive and demanded an inquiry.
“This is a huge number, even if pre‑SIR.
We shall demand details to come clean,” said PCC Election Commission coordination committee chairman Pulipati Rajesh Kumar.
Meanwhile, officials said nearly 90 lakh of the 92 lakh voters who received notices during the SIR had been cleared for inclusion in the final roll to be published on November 9.
Only 1.15 lakh notices remain pending.
By Tuesday, 92,88,188 notices were generated statewide, of which 89,13,300 names were cleared, amounting to 95.96 per cent.
Among them, 5,74,693 were cleared without hearings.
Officials said relaxed norms, including acceptance of digital documents without in‑person hearings, contributed to smoother processing.
Among these voters, 5,74,693 were cleared ‘without hearing’.
From over 60 lakh with anomalies, 59 lakh had been cleared.
Of the 32 lakh voters who were ‘unmapped’ close to 30 lakh were cleared for the final roll.
From 64,821 Form‑6 applications received during the claims and objections period, 14,158 were accepted.
“We are trying our best to help people with Form‑6, but the response has been lower than expected.
Many seem reluctant to visit local booths to reclaim their votes,” an official said.
Note: The opening phrase “The ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral apart” appears incomplete in the supplied copy; please verify it against the original.
