Electoral Revision to Target Lakhs of Duplicate Votes in Hyderabad and Secunderabad

HYDERABAD — A Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls scheduled to begin on June 24 is set to reshape the political map of Hyderabad, Secunderabad, and key urban pockets including Malkajgiri, Quthbullapur, LB Nagar, Uppal, Serilingampally, Kukatpally, and Rajendranagar. The exercise aims to eliminate duplicate and anomalous voter entries, which could significantly alter local voter demographics ahead of future GHMC and Assembly elections.

According to Election Commission officials, a pre-revision voter-mapping exercise has already identified anomalies in over 88 lakh of the total 3.38 crore electors across Telangana. This represents nearly 26 percent of the state's entire electorate, recorded at a stage when only 70 percent of the total electorate had been mapped.

The impact of this revision is expected to be most intense in the urban constituencies of Hyderabad. High anomaly rates ranging from 57 to 78 percent have been recorded in areas such as Quthbullapur, LB Nagar, Uppal, Serilingampally, Kukatpally, Malkajgiri, and Rajendranagar.

A major focus of the revision is the dual registration of voters. Political parties estimate that more than 10 lakh voters are registered in both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, particularly concentrated in Hyderabad, Secunderabad, and parts of Malkajgiri. Under the Special Intensive Revision, these voters will be required to choose a single state for their enrollment, which could shift the electoral balance if a significant number choose Andhra Pradesh.

Local estimates suggest that between 15 and 20 lakh votes could be deleted in the Hyderabad urban region alone once the verification process is complete. The exact number of deletions will be confirmed when the final electoral rolls are published in October.

The issue of voter duplication has previously sparked political tension. During the Jubilee Hills by-election in October last year, the opposition BRS raised concerns regarding approximately 20,000 duplicate and fake votes before ultimately losing the seat to the ruling Congress party by a margin of over 24,000 votes.

With the upcoming revision, political parties will likely have to recalibrate their electoral strategies, particularly those that have traditionally relied on floating, migrant, or duplicate voter populations.