Bandi’s 18 lakh claim meets a 9.22 lakh record
The Telangana CEO’s draft-roll figures identify 9,22,229 electors in the “dead” category—not 18 lakh confirmed dead voters. The rest is political arithmetic still waiting for a receipt.
The claim is large; the published record is narrower.
Union minister Bandi Sanjay Kumar challenged Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and the Telangana Congress to face fresh elections using paper ballots, while asking why Congress opposed removing “bogus votes” and deceased voters. He also claimed that more than 18 lakh people had died since 2004 and said another 6.7 lakh duplicate entries needed verification. [1]
The Telangana Chief Electoral Officer’s published Special Intensive Revision figures say something narrower. Of 3,38,26,448 electors covered, 9,22,229 were categorised as dead, 6,70,203 as already enrolled or multiple enrolments, and 57,46,803 as absent or shifted. The names were removed from the draft roll, with a claims-and-objections process available for restoration. [2]
That is not evidence of 18 lakh confirmed dead voters. It is not evidence that 6.7 lakh people voted twice. And it is certainly not evidence, by itself, that the Congress government in Telangana fabricated voter entries. The 18 lakh number remains Bandi Sanjay’s assertion; the available report does not show whether it refers to deaths recorded since 2004, names on electoral rolls, or a larger bundle of categories. The arithmetic has been announced, not demonstrated.
The Election Commission’s procedure requires field verification, notice and an opportunity to object before deletions, while Form 7 covers objections based on death, permanent shifting or existing enrolment elsewhere. [3] Telangana is also planning to link death-registration data with voter records, with verification before names are removed. [4] The CEO says house-to-house visits and Booth Level Officer enquiries were conducted, and that eligible electors could seek restoration. [5] Revanth Reddy and the Telangana Congress have not publicly answered the specific 18 lakh figure in the material reviewed.
The Congress government’s failure is that a voter-roll exercise this consequential still leaves the public waiting for the final category-wise record: how many claims were filed, how many names were restored, and how many “dead” classifications were backed by death records. Bandi Sanjay’s failure is simpler. He has a headline number and no visible calculation. Telangana deserves a clean electoral roll, not another party’s spreadsheet-shaped fog.