HYDERABAD: AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Thursday raised serious concerns over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls process, which is scheduled to start in Telangana on June 25, claiming that many voters could be deleted due to the possibility of their names appearing in the list of anomalies.
The Hyderabad MP urged the Election Commission of India (ECI) to provide clear guidelines and also to ensure transparency in the verification and inclusion process.
He also appealed to the ECI to include PAN card, driving licence and food security cards in the list of documents, in addition to the already prescribed 12 documents, to be submitted as identity proof during the house-to-house enumeration process.
Owaisi was addressing the media after holding a meeting with religious leaders, community members and NGOs to discuss issues related to the SIR process. Recalling that ECI itself had stated that the 12 documents listed in the enumeration form were “not exhaustive”, he urged the poll body to expand its accepted documentation. Noting that the 12 documents currently listed in the enumeration form are not available to everyone, he said: “The government of Telangana doesn’t provide a Permanent Residence Certificate, National Registry of Citizens or Family Register prepared by state/local authorities as mentioned in the form to its citizens.”
He urged Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy to request the ECI to also consider PAN card, driving licence, food security cards as proof of identity to ensure a hassle-free voter mapping and avoid deletion of names.
Owaisi also expressed concern over the possible implications for citizenship status if names were excluded during the enumeration process. “It is not just about losing voting rights. Your citizenship itself can come under question. The issue of citizenship becomes a matter of life and death for many people,” he said.
The MP urged people to remain alert and ensure that all necessary documents are prepared and submitted correctly to avoid discrepancies in electoral records.
He also said that AIMIM with its volunteers, booth level assistants and several NGOs has been creating public awareness on SIR. “If the name of any voter goes missing from the electoral rolls, our legal team will assist them to get the issue rectified,” he said.
Highlighting anomalies such as the erroneous mapping of family relations from past voter lists, Owaisi stressed that discrepancies like age difference and family size should not restrict voting rights.
He also raised concerns over the SIR process, questioning what he described as a limitation related to listing more than five children in voter records. He argued that family size should have no bearing on electoral rights and called for any discrepancies in voter data to be recorded accurately rather than leading to exclusion. “Having more than five children should not be the ground to question a citizen’s voting right,” he added.