Daijiworld Media Network – Hyderabad
Hyderabad, Jun 25: The house-to-house enumeration process for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls commenced across Telangana on Thursday, with nearly 36,000 Booth Level Officers (BLOs) deployed to carry out the exercise.
Chief Electoral Officer C. Sudharsan Reddy said the door-to-door verification drive will continue until July 24, following which the draft electoral roll will be published on July 31. The final electoral roll is scheduled to be released on October 1 after objections are reviewed and hearings are completed.
"The Election Commission does not intend to remove votes arbitrarily. Genuine voters need not worry. The main challenge is completing the entire exercise within the stipulated timeframe," Reddy said.
He said more than 3,500 supervisors have been assigned to oversee the BLOs, while over 1,000 senior officials will monitor the process at higher levels to ensure smooth implementation.
According to election officials, Telangana currently has more than 3.38 crore registered voters. As of June 20, around 2.38 crore electors had been mapped, while nearly 90 lakh voters were identified with various anomalies requiring verification.
During the exercise, BLOs will visit households, distribute enumeration forms and assist citizens in filling them out accurately.
To support the revision process, nearly 49,000 Booth Level Agents (BLAs) have also been trained and deployed to assist BLOs in the field.
Reddy emphasised that the entire SIR-2026 programme would be conducted transparently and strictly in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Election Commission of India (ECI).
Meanwhile, Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has directed Congress leaders and public representatives to remain vigilant during the electoral revision process amid concerns over the possible deletion of genuine voters from the rolls.
During a virtual meeting with party leaders on Wednesday, the Chief Minister warned that strict action would be taken against any leader found violating party instructions related to the SIR campaign. He instructed ministers, MPs, MLAs and constituency in-charges to closely monitor the process and ensure that eligible voters are not excluded from the electoral rolls.