Telangana asks for voter-roll proof, ECI offers paperwork

BRS, Left parties and the Telangana Jana Samithi marched in Hyderabad on September 30 against the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision, demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation and a halt to the exercise. The protest began at the Ambedkar statue on Tank Bund and moved towards BRKR Bhavan, where police stopped the protesters at barricades. A delegation later submitted a memorandum to Joint Chief Electoral Officer Venkata Rao. [1][2]

The parties alleged that eligible voters had been removed from the rolls and demanded that their names be restored. A separate report carried the protesters’ claim that lakhs of eligible voters were being illegally deleted across the country. No deletion list, individual notice, constituency-wise data or official figure establishing that claim was found in the material reviewed. The allegation therefore remains an allegation, however loudly the slogan department delivered it.

The ECI identifies Gyanesh Kumar as Chief Election Commissioner and says he assumed charge on February 19, 2025. Its official material lists Telangana among the states covered by the third phase of SIR and provides access to electoral-roll search services. The Commission has not publicly answered the specific Telangana protest or the deletion allegations in the material reviewed. For now, voters are being asked to search the rolls while the institution responsible for them leaves the central question sitting behind the barricade.