SIR begins in Telangana: 88 lakh voter records flagged for verification in first exercise since 2002

The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls began in Telangana on Wednesday with 88,13,207 voter records—about 26 per cent of the total electorate—already flagged by the Election Commission's (EC) digital mapping exercise for verification, including that of Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka.

The large number of flagged records has sparked political concerns even before the house-to-house verification began.

The exercise is the first SIR since 2002, and the first in Telangana to use large-scale digital mapping before field verification. Before Booth-Level Officers (BLOs) fanned out for door-to-door verification, the EC completed the pre-SIR digital mapping by comparing the 2025-26 electoral rolls with the 2002 electoral rolls between June 15 and 24.

According to the EC, the objective is to identify duplicate, shifted, deceased and potentially ineligible entries before the final electoral roll is prepared.

For the first time in the state, the EC conducted digital mapping. Wherever a direct match was unavailable, the software tried to establish family links by identifying parents or grandparents recorded in the earlier rolls.

This "progeny mapping" effectively created digital family trees, enabling the system to analyse relationships rather than individual entries in isolation. The software then searched for logical inconsistencies, including implausible parent-child age gaps, changes in relationship details (e.g., father or husband), different parent names from earlier records, duplicate family links, missing information, and deficiencies in supporting documents.

Every such inconsistency was treated as an anomaly requiring verification. Deputy CM Bhatti Vikramarka's statement on his flagged vote captured the political mood surrounding the exercise. Questioning how his legitimate vote could be flagged by the EC, he sought an explanation for the anomaly.

EC officials maintain that a flagged record is not evidence of fraud. Rather, it serves as a trigger for the next stage of the SIR. No elector's name will be deleted solely because it has been flagged by the software. Every flagged record will undergo physical verification by BLOs, who will conduct house-to-house visits, issue notices wherever necessary and give electors an opportunity to explain discrepancies and submit supporting documents before any decision is taken on their inclusion in the electoral roll.

With nearly 88 lakh records marked for verification, the month-long field exercise is expected to determine whether the flagged anomalies are genuine errors or merely discrepancies arising from changes in family details, migration, and outdated records.

The EC has issued detailed guidelines to the Chief Electoral Officer, Telangana, directing a house-to-house verification of the flagged records. The BLOs began field verification from June 25, while political parties appointed Booth Level Agents to monitor the exercise.

House-to-house verification and form collection will continue until July 24, after which the draft electoral roll will be published on July 31. Electors will have a month—until August 30—to file claims and objections, which electoral authorities must dispose of by September 28.

The final electoral roll is scheduled to be published on October 1, which will also serve as the qualifying date for the revision.

The massive number of flagged voter records has alarmed political parties, prompting them to activate their organisational machinery. All the major parties—Congress, BJP, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and the AIMIM—have mobilised their leaders, booth-level workers, and Booth Level Agents to help voters verify their details and ensure that eligible electors are not left out of the rolls.

The most prominent response came from Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, who warned Congress ministers, MLAs and party leaders that they would risk losing their seats in the next elections if they failed to address issues arising during the SIR.

While reiterating that the Congress supports the revision process, the party has cautioned that genuine voters should not lose their voting rights because of data mismatches or procedural lapses.

It has sought greater transparency from the EC on the methodology adopted for digital mapping and insisted that no name be deleted without due process, including field verification, notice, and an opportunity to be heard.

The BJP, meanwhile, has backed the SIR as a necessary exercise to ensure clean electoral rolls and has deployed its booth committees to help voters navigate the verification process.

The BRS has expressed concern that genuine voters could be excluded and has instructed its cadre to closely monitor the exercise while providing legal and organisational support to affected electors.

AIMIM has not opposed the SIR outright. Instead, party president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi has urged people to participate in the exercise while simultaneously demanding that the EC simplify the verification process and ensure that no eligible voter is disenfranchised.

Talking to THE WEEK, political commentator Prof. Nageshwar said:

“SIR has led to disproportionate deletion of votes of minorities, women and poorer sections in Bihar and West Bengal, as these sections would have challenges in producing sufficient documents. The process should be simple enough for these people to retain their voting rights.”

Since all the parties have focused on the process and there is sufficient time for it, there is a general feeling that the SIR process may not turn out as badly as in Bihar and West Bengal.