Telangana Voter Mapping Flags Over 88 Lakh Electors for Verification

A voter-mapping exercise in Telangana has flagged 88,13,207 electors for verification after identifying widespread anomalies, with urban constituencies in Quthbullapur, LB Nagar, Uppal, and Serilingampally recording the highest discrepancy rates. As of June 4, the state had completed mapping 2.32 crore of its 3.39 crore voters, representing a completion rate of 68.7 per cent.

According to data from the Chief Electoral Officer’s office, urban areas in and around Hyderabad showed the most significant discrepancy rates. Quthbullapur recorded the highest anomaly rate in the state at 78 per cent, followed closely by LB Nagar at 74 per cent, Uppal at 73 per cent, and Serilingampally at 72 per cent. Other areas with high discrepancy rates include Kukatpally, Malkajgiri, Rajendranagar, Nizamabad Urban, and Patancheru.

Officials attributed these high urban rates to rapid population shifts, apartment living, duplicate entries, and outdated addresses, reflecting fast-changing demographics since the last comprehensive voter revision.

Telangana Chief Electoral Officer C. Sudharshan Reddy stated that 11 categories of anomalies were identified during the pre-Special Intensive Revision (SIR) mapping process. These anomalies include biological implausibilities, such as cases where the age gap between a voter and their parent is less than 15 years or more than 50 years. Similarly, cases where the age gap between a voter and their grandparents is less than 40 years have been flagged. The system also flagged entries where more than six people were mapped against a single individual from the 2002 SIR list.

To resolve these discrepancies, Reddy said notices will be issued for minor anomalies, and hearings will be conducted to examine documents and explanations. Officials expect to resolve around 90 per cent of the flagged anomalies through this process.

While the exact resolution process has not been formally announced, Telangana is expected to adopt the "panchnama" method used in Odisha, where local resident signatures are gathered to validate disputed entries. A team of Telangana officials previously visited Odisha to study this approach.

The full SIR exercise is scheduled to begin on June 15, with booth-level officers starting house-to-house verification visits on June 25.