Congress deploys booth teams as Telangana roll revision begins
Telangana is among the states covered under Phase III of the nationwide SIR exercise, which spans 16 states and three Union Territories
As the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls began in Telangana on Wednesday, the Congress stepped up its campaign against what it calls "vote chori", alleging that the exercise could be used to selectively remove voters from communities traditionally seen as less supportive of the BJP.
The party's apprehensions come amid allegations of voter deletions and electoral roll manipulation raised by Opposition parties in several states in recent years.
AICC Telangana in-charge Meenakshi Natarajan, whose nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha were rejected by the ECI, has alleged that the BJP is attempting to replicate the "West Bengal model" in Telangana and Punjab.
In Telangana, the Congress has moved beyond political rhetoric to establish a constituency-level monitoring mechanism. Leading the effort is Warangal MP Kadiyam Kavya, who has set up a dedicated "war room" in her constituency to track voter deletions and verify cases flagged during the revision process.
Speaking to National Herald, Kavya said special attention was being paid to vulnerable and marginalised communities, including Dalits and Muslims, who often face difficulties in navigating documentation and verification requirements.
"Not a single legitimate voter should be deleted. Every proposed deletion must be verified on the ground before it is accepted," she said.
To that end, the Congress MP has deployed a network of volunteers across her constituency to monitor voter deletions through a dedicated software platform. The system alerts Booth Level Agents (BLAs) to proposed deletions and enables them to verify the grounds cited for removing names from the electoral rolls, triggering on-ground checks wherever discrepancies are suspected
According to Kavya, the system is designed to scrutinise cases where voters are marked as deceased, shifted or otherwise ineligible. Once a deletion is flagged, local volunteers verify the claim through field visits and community networks before reporting back.
"We have integrated technology with grassroots verification. Every BLA receives information about proposed deletions, and a mechanism immediately swings into action to verify whether the deletion is justified," she said.
Warning that the issue goes beyond electoral arithmetic, Kavya said public faith in the electoral process itself was at stake.
"Earlier there was vote chori; now there is imaan chori. People's faith in the electoral process is at stake. We want citizens to remain alert and participate in safeguarding their democratic rights," she added.
The Congress's intervention reflects a broader strategy being adopted by Opposition party in states where the SIR is being rolled out, with a greater emphasis on booth-level vigilance and real-time monitoring of voter deletions.
For the Congress, the exercise is as much about protecting the integrity of the voter list as it is about guarding against what it sees as the possibility of politically motivated exclusions.
Telangana is among the states covered under Phase III of the nationwide SIR exercise, which spans 16 states and three Union Territories. Last month, the Supreme Court upheld the legality of the exercise, observing that the ECI was acting within its constitutional mandate under Article 324 and the provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1950.