‘Six lakh purged’? Show the roll
Telangana’s SIR has gaps in form returns, especially in Hyderabad’s urban belt. That supports one claim: miss the form, risk missing from the draft roll. It does not prove a six-lakh permanent purge. Bring the maths or stop selling fear.
The published record shows gaps in returns and digitisation, not a confirmed six-lakh deletion.
A claim doing the rounds says Telangana’s Special Intensive Revision will “purge over six lakh voters”. The record supports something narrower and more boring: if you don’t submit the enumeration form, you may not show up in the draft roll — and there’s a route back via Form 6.
Start with what’s on the record. As of July 4, 2,88,14,650 forms had been distributed — 85.18% of 3,38,26,448 electors. Hyderabad, Rangareddy and Medchal–Malkajgiri lagged badly in returns/digitisation then; by July 16 distribution hit 100% statewide, but Medchal–Malkajgiri still had only 28.41% digitised, and Hyderabad’s digitisation was stuck near the bottom of the table. That’s a gap — not a purge.
What the Chief Electoral Officer actually said: “Only the details of a voter who fills the enumeration form… would be included in the draft electoral rolls.” He also said those left out can file Form 6. That’s the process. It includes a claims-and-objections stage; it is not a trap door.
One more detail the fear-mongers skip: online submissions count, and BLOs were told not to demand a second physical form from people who filed online. So a raw count of uncollected paper tells you less than it pretends to.
Here’s what is missing from the six-lakh scare: the calculation. No published table from election authorities, no official denominator tying “not digitised” to “permanently deleted”, and no final-roll figure. Converting slow urban digitisation into a confirmed mass deletion is spin, not statistics.
Voters should absolutely file the form — that part is real. But unless someone can produce an official roll or schedule that says otherwise, “six lakh purged” is theatre. The BJP-led Centre loves a national panic; the Congress is busy discovering process after the deadline; the TDP will take any shortcut to a headline. Telangana doesn’t need their drama — it needs the data.