The first phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process will end on Monday, and most likely in disarray. With more than 73 lakh voter enumeration forms still to be digitised, officials and booth-level officers are staring at an impossible task. Political parties and voters are worried that lakhs of eligible voters could end up not getting their voting right.
Telangana has a total of 3,38,26,448 voters, and by the evening of August 9, only 2,64,30,494, or 78.14 per cent, of enumeration forms have been digitised. Within a day, 73,95,964 forms are yet to be entered into the official rolls. While most voters submitted their forms, some voters are yet to submit theirs. The Election Commission officials do not reveal the number of unsubmitted forms.
While digitalisation of forms was relatively seamless in rural areas, Hyderabad metropolitan districts lagged considerably. Hyderabad, Medchal-Malkajgiri and Ranga Reddy districts have registered only 58.58 per cent, 63.82 per cent and 64.91 per cent, respectively. Yadadri-Bhuvanagiri (94.30 per cent), Janagama (91.69 per cent) and Medak (90.54 per cent) have performed well.
For BLOs and officials, it has become a challenge to get voters’ addresses, contact them, and reach the unavailable voters. Several news reports also alleged non-availability of BLOs.
It is said that the deadline won’t be extended anymore as the EC has already extended it twice, on July 24 and August 3. The EC officials said the enumeration form submission process would end on August 10. The rationalisation and relocation of polling booths are supposed to be completed by the same day. By August 17, a draft voter roll will be published, and voters can make counterclaims until September 9. The issues shall be resolved by October 15, and the final voter roll will be published in another four days by October 19.
The EC rushing the process has met with criticism. Prof. Nageshwar, a senior journalist and two-time MLC, has wondered why the EC is conducting SIR in such a rushed manner. He said he also couldn’t understand why the 2002 SIR has to be linked to the present process. “The alacrity of the EC is truly surprising, and they are clearly going against their mandate of encouraging voter participation in the electoral process. Now, they are sounding more bureaucratic and counterproductive,” he said.
He told THE WEEK that he could neither find his name nor his parents' names in the 2002 SIR and doesn’t know how to get voting rights since the present SIR is linked to 2002 SIR records. “We shifted our home in 2001; maybe the staff did not find us and did not enter us in the records in 2002. Then or now, the process is not in our control, so I am wondering how to participate in it,” he concluded.
