Hyderabad: Telangana chief electoral officer Sudarshan Reddy on Saturday clarified that voters whose names are not found in the 2002 electoral rolls will not be removed from the voter list. Such voters only need to submit any one of the 12 approved identity documents along with their enumeration form during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, he added.
Addressing concerns over the ongoing revision process, Reddy said the 2002 electoral rolls are being used only as a static reference for mapping and simplifying verification procedures.
BLAs asked to assist BLOs
Reddy urged all political parties to appoint one Booth Level Agent (BLA) for each of the 35,000 polling stations in Telangana. So far, around 25,000 BLAs have reportedly been appointed by various parties.
He said BLAs are expected to assist Booth Level Officers (BLOs) during house-to-house verification by helping identify electors and distribute enumeration forms.
Explaining the "progeny mapping" process, Reddy said voters whose names appear in both the 2002 and 2025 electoral rolls will not be required to submit additional documents.Children of voters listed in the 2002 rolls can also be linked to their parents through progeny mapping, removing the need for separate documentation.
He reiterated that voters absent from the 2002 rolls would remain eligible. "Such voters only need to submit one of the 12 approved identity documents along with their enumeration form," he added.
Aadhaar only proof of identity
Reddy clarified that voters can establish identity using any of the 12 approved documents, including Aadhaar and the existing voter identity card. However, Aadhaar will be treated only as proof of identity and not proof of citizenship.
In tribal areas, Forest Rights certificates or Scheduled Tribe certificates will also be accepted for voters lacking other documents.
Enumeration forms will be partly pre-filled with details such as the elector's name, serial number and polling station information. The forms will also include a unique QR code and provision for a passport-size photograph.
Voters will also be allowed to correct errors, including spelling mistakes in names, during verification and the claims-and-objections period.
Verification schedule
According to the schedule announced by the CEO, electoral rolls will be prepared and printed for distribution to districts between June 15 and June 24.
Around 35,000 BLOs will conduct house-to-house verification from June 25 to July 24. The draft notification process will begin on July 24, while claims and objections can be submitted between July 31 and Aug 30. The final electoral roll will be published on October 1.
Reddy said voters, including migrants and overseas electors, can submit forms and documents online through voters.eci.gov.in. Help desks and the toll-free number 1950 will also be available across districts.
Objective is to clean electoral rolls
Stating that the SIR exercise is aimed at cleansing electoral rolls, Reddy clarified that deletions, if any, would apply only to ASD categories — Absent, Shifted and Dead voters.
He stressed that BLOs do not have the authority to delete names independently and that notices would be issued before any deletion during the claims-and-objections stage.
The department is also using technical methods to identify duplicate registrations in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and other states, including West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.
Reddy said the mapping process has reached 64.38% completion. While the 2011 Census recorded Telangana's population at 3.5 crore, current estimates place it at over 4.5 crore, with around 3.40 crore registered voters.
He added that the process would remain transparent, with draft lists being shared with political parties and displayed at the CEO, ERO, ARO and BLO offices for public scrutiny. PDF copies of the 2002 electoral data have also been shared with political parties, including Congress and BRS, on request.
Reddy also clarified that the National Register of Citizens (NRC) is not applicable to Telangana.
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