Hyderabad, May 15 (Maxim News): The Election Commission of India has announced the third phase of the Special Intensive Revision, SIR, of electoral rolls across 16 states and three Union Territories, including Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The large-scale voter verification drive will begin in Telangana from June 25 and continue till July 24.
The Commission finalised the schedule while keeping in view the ongoing national census related house listing exercise across the country. Officials said Booth Level Officers, BLOs, will conduct door to door verification of voters during the exercise.
This will be the first Special Intensive Revision in Telangana after state formation. The last such exercise in undivided Andhra Pradesh was conducted in 2002.
At present, Telangana has 3,39,20,705 registered voters. Nearly 35,985 BLOs and 25,886 Booth Level Agents, BLAs, will participate in the verification process across the state.
Officials said BLOs will visit around 83.04 lakh households spread across 33 districts, 13 municipal corporations, 129 towns and 12,769 gram panchayats.
The Election Commission stated that political parties must appoint Booth Level Agents at every polling booth to ensure transparency and smooth conduct of the revision exercise.
The Commission described the programme as a joint exercise involving voters, political parties and election officials.
Under the process, BLOs will distribute two enumeration forms to each household. One completed copy will be collected while the second copy will remain with the voter as acknowledgement.
Voters can also download the forms online through the Election Commission website and submit them digitally. Officials said online submissions will also be physically verified during field visits.
The Election Commission clarified that if houses remain locked during verification, BLOs must visit the location at least three times before closing the process.
The draft electoral rolls will be published on July 31. Voters whose names are missing can submit objections or fresh applications till August 30 through Form 6.
Form 8 can be used for corrections, address changes, EPIC card updates and disability related identification updates.
If voters are dissatisfied with decisions taken by Electoral Registration Officers, they can appeal before the District Magistrate and later before the Chief Electoral Officer.
The Election Commission revealed that major voter deletions and additions were recorded during the first two phases of the SIR exercise.
The pilot phase conducted in Bihar reportedly led to the deletion of nearly 47 lakh voters.
During the second phase held in nine states and three Union Territories, around 7.36 crore voter names were removed while 2.18 crore new voters were added.
The highest deletions were reported in Uttar Pradesh, followed by West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.
At the same time, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala recorded the highest number of new voter registrations.
Officials said the purpose of the exercise is to remove names of deceased persons, duplicate voters, permanently shifted persons and ineligible voters while ensuring that all eligible citizens remain in the electoral rolls.
Meanwhile, sources said mapping work in parts of Hyderabad, Rangareddy, Medchal Malkajgiri, Sangareddy, Khammam and Nizamabad districts is progressing slowly, with nearly 50 percent work still pending in several Assembly constituencies.
The large-scale verification drive has already triggered political activity across Telangana, with major parties intensifying efforts to appoint BLAs at the booth level amid concerns over possible voter deletions and additions ahead of future elections.
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