Revanth Reddy seeks four-week extension for electoral roll revision

Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription

Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy. | Photo Credit: SIDDHANT THAKUR

Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has urged the Election Commission of India to extend the claims and objections period for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state by four weeks, citing concerns over the large number of voters flagged for verification and the possibility of eligible electors being left out.

In a letter addressed to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Saturday (August 29, 2026), he said the revision had reached a critical stage, with nearly one-third of the State’s electorate potentially required to establish their eligibility afresh.

According to the letter, against the State’s electoral roll of 3.38 crore electors as of June 10, around 73.39 lakh entries have been placed under the categories of Absent, Shifted, Dead and Duplicate (ASDD). Of the 2.65 crore enumeration forms digitised so far, 60.50 lakh have been flagged for anomalies and another 32.36 lakh for lack of a link to the previous electoral roll. The two categories are stated to be distinct, taking the total number of electors requiring notice to 92.86 lakh.

Mr. Reddy expressed particular concern over the ASDD classification, noting that 45.19 lakh, or nearly 62% of the 73.39 lakh ASDD entries had been classified as “permanently shifted”.

The Chief Minister argued that the existing verification process does not adequately distinguish between temporary absence and permanent relocation. Voters who were away from home because of work, travel or other temporary circumstances could potentially be treated in the same manner as those who had permanently moved.

Mr. Reddy also pointed out that genuine voters who have shifted residences are not being adequately assisted in enrolling at their new addresses, while their names may be marked for deletion from their previous constituencies. Another concern raised was that deletions in the “shifted” category do not receive the same formal notice procedure as those in other categories.

The Chief Minister cautioned that these shortcomings could result in eligible citizens discovering that their names had been removed only when they reached polling stations.

The geographical distribution of the verification exercise has also raised concerns.