73 lakh ‘missing’ is a draft, not destiny
Draft rolls list 21.70% electors as absent/shifted/dead/duplicate. Claims can be filed till Sept 16; hearings run to Oct 15. Final roll is due Oct 19. So the scare stories can wait their turn.
The draft roll leaves room for claims and objections before the final roll is published.
Telangana’s SIR has moved from door-to-door forms to the real test: fixing the draft. The Chief Electoral Officer’s schedule says claims and objections are open August 17–September 16, with notices, hearings and disposals running till October 15. The final electoral roll is slated for October 19.
The draft roll published on August 17 left out 73,39,234 electors — 21.70% of the 3.38 crore covered — categorised as permanently shifted or absent (57.47 lakh), deceased (9.22 lakh) and multiple enrolments (6.70 lakh). That is a draft omission figure, not a final deletion list. Form 6 exists for a reason, and voters can file online.
This comes after Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy warned Congress leaders their side could “lose 21%” — a political mobilisation line he based on internal reports before the draft. The number later showed up in the draft-omission share, which still isn’t proof those voters are gone for good. The job now is disposal and inclusion, not theatre. The BJP’s favourite panic about mass cleansing can take a number; the roll that counts lands on October 19.