73 lakh ‘to be deleted’? Name them
CPI(M)’s John Wesley alleged a plan to cancel 73 lakh Telangana votes during the ongoing roll revision. The figure is unbacked by documents; the BJP-led Centre and Congress-run state are owed answers, not silence.
A 73-lakh claim awaits the paperwork behind it.
CPI(M) Telangana state secretary John Wesley on August 15 alleged that “ruling parties” are conspiring to cancel 73 lakh votes in Telangana during the current electoral roll revision. He made the charge after flag hoisting at the party office near RTC Crossroads, Hyderabad, as recorded by a Telugu daily’s report of the event. The report does not provide a speech transcript, source document or calculation for the 73‑lakh number.
What is on the record: the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision for Telangana is under way, with house-to-house verification (June 25–July 24), the draft roll (July 31), claims and objections (to August 30), and final rolls due October 1. None of the ECI material reviewed mentions a 73‑lakh deletion plan.
For scale, Telangana’s final SSR‑2025 roll listed 3,35,27,925 electors. Seventy‑three lakh would be about 21.8% of the electorate. If anyone in power is even floating a number that large, they can show the paperwork.
Wesley also attacked the Modi government, the BJP and the RSS in his remarks. If his 73‑lakh allegation targets the BJP‑led Centre’s conduct, the Centre should put out the datasets behind the revision and the safeguards for due process. If he means the Congress government in Telangana too, it can publish the constituency‑wise addition/deletion proposals and notices served. Both are running the system; neither gets to shrug.
Bottom line for voters: an allegation this big needs names, lists and law — not just a microphone. The BJP‑led Centre and the Congress government in Telangana can clear the air today by releasing the numbers they already have. Or keep ducking and own the suspicion.