A ground report filed from Moula Ali Circle in Secunderabad city has once again raised doubts regarding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in Telangana state, as some people have received notices citing various issues such as document mismatch, discrepancy in data, mapping problems and other voter-related problems. The exercise which was conducted for updating the electoral roll has raised fears among many citizens regarding their names on the revised electoral roll.
At the Circle office, it has been reported that a lot of people have started to come forward with some papers in order to attend to the notice regarding their voting record. It has been claimed that there were a few reasons for this problem like lack of connectivity with previous voting lists, difference in name or age of a voter or even other types of problems related to data. This has increased the burden on the local elections and municipal authorities who conduct this verification process.
However, it is believed that these massive changes in voting records may affect the real voters in case the verification process is not conducted properly. It is possible that voters from poorer economic backgrounds, elderly citizens, migrants, and others who do not have proper documentation may find it difficult to prove themselves.
The dispute has further led to a political discussion whereby the BJP-led federal government was accused of having created an environment whereby the revision of electoral rolls would cause genuine citizens’ names to be struck off. On its part, the BJP party has justified the process of revision of electoral rolls as being necessary.
Events at Secunderabad have led to a nationwide debate on how best to revise electoral rolls without denying any eligible citizen his/her basic right to vote. The hearings are ongoing and the people are demanding clarity and a transparent process to avoid administrative challenges from becoming barriers to exercising democratic rights.
