TPCC Delegation Meets Telangana CEO Over Voter Roll Revision Notices

A delegation from the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) Election Commission Co-ordination Committee met Chief Electoral Officer C. Sudharshan Reddy to raise concerns regarding the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Telangana.

The delegation was led by committee chairman Pulipati Rajesh Kumar and included SIR State Co-ordinator Gampa Venugopal and member Wajid Hussain. The leaders cautioned that the current insistence on electors appearing in person could lead to large-scale deletions from the voter lists.

The committee noted that while electors are required to appear personally under a memo issued by the CEO's office, many voters are elderly, daily wage workers, students, women, or individuals residing abroad and in other states for work or education. Stating that these individuals may not be able to attend on short notice, the representatives requested that authorised family members be allowed to represent them.

The delegation also highlighted that voters are receiving notices merely 48 hours before hearings. Arguing that principles of natural justice require at least seven days of notice to prepare and present relevant records, the representatives asked Mr. Reddy to issue appropriate directives.

Additionally, the delegation pointed out that Booth Level Officers (BLOs) serving notices have not been guiding electors on the specific documents required to address the issues raised. They urged the CEO to instruct BLOs to clearly outline acceptable proof for age, identity, address, or relative details.

To simplify the process and reduce the workload on Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), the Congress leaders requested the rollout of an online document submission system similar to Forms 6, 7, and 8, without requiring Aadhaar e-sign integration. They also urged the CEO to mandate weekly meetings between all EROs and recognised political parties to maintain transparency.