Nearly 47 Lakh Risk Exclusion From Telangana List As SIR Hearings Continue

Nearly 47 lakh voters in Telangana risk being being left out of the final electoral rolls as the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) enters its final phase, even as Chief Minister Revanth Reddy has intensified his opposition to the exercise and called for a nationwide "SIR Go Back" campaign.

Telangana had 3,38,26,448 registered electors when the SIR enumeration exercise began.

The draft-roll exercise initially placed 73,39,235 electors, or 21.70% of the electorate, in the Absent, Shifted, Dead or Duplicate (ASDD) category.

These names were excluded from the draft roll, subject to claims, objections and subsequent verification.

As of September 28, election authorities had conducted 58,97,432 hearings, with 45,54,236 electors found eligible for inclusion in the final electoral rolls.

Of the 92,88,181 notices required to be generated over logical discrepancies and no-mapping cases, 92,88,180 had been issued. Of these, 87,85,739 had been delivered, while 5,02,441 remain pending.

However, a significant number of cases remain unresolved.

Officials warned that failure to respond to notices or complete the required verification could result in names being excluded from the final electoral rolls.

Reacting to the revision exercise, Reddy invoked the freedom movement slogan "Simon Go Back", while calling for opposition to the SIR.

"It is straightforward. In 1929, the slogan 'Simon Go Back' was raised. Today, it is SIR. Go Back, SIR Go Back. Until the SIR is taken back, the youth of this country are not going to stop," he said.

The Chief Minister alleged that the Election Commission was being misused to remove genuine voters opposed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He also criticised Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, alleging that he was taking decisions without the knowledge of the other two Election Commissioners.

"This is not merely a problem for the Congress party.  It is a crisis for the nation's democracy," Reddy said.

The Election Commission has extended the Telangana SIR schedule. Claims and objections can now be filed until October 7, while the disposal of claims, objections and notices will continue until November 5. The final electoral rolls are scheduled for publication on November 9, 2026. 

The SIR exercise began in Telangana on June 25, 2026. The schedule was later extended by three weeks, giving election officials additional time to complete the notice, hearing and verification process before the publication of the final rolls.