Telangana SIR: Social audit tracks down 23% deleted voters in Secunderabad Cantonment constituency

Citizens and experts, Dr. Parakala Prabhakar, and others at St. Joseph's High School, for the Telangana Voter Rights Forum public hearing on voter rights and the Tirumalgiri people's audit, in Secunderabad on Saturday, October 31, 2026. | Photo Credit: RAMAKRISHNA G

Surekha Joshi from Trimulgherry is a very angry woman. Five of her family members retained their votes in the draft electoral rolls published on August 17, 2026, as part of the Special Intensive Revision of Electoral Rolls. But she couldn’t.

This is despite the fact that all the six filled in their enumeration forms together and gave them back to the booth level officer. Now she is being asked to file Form-6 to register herself as a new voter.

“First, let them explain why they deleted my vote. Why should I register myself again? I want vote with my old EPIC number,” she demanded at a public hearing conducted by the Telangana Voter Rights Forum for the voters in the purview of two polling stations in Secunderabad Cantonment constituency.

Citizens and experts, including Prof. Shanta Sinha and Dr. Parakala Prabhakar, gather at St. Joseph's High School, for the Telangana Voter Rights Forum public hearing on voter rights and the Tirumalgiri people's audit, in Secunderabad on Saturday, October 31, 2026. Photo :RAMAKRISHNA G/The Hindu | Photo Credit: RAMAKRISHNA G

Many voters with similar complaints were livid at being asked to register anew. Several of them had copies of filled in forms signed by BLOs in their hands as proof that they had submitted the forms.

“I was born in Lalbazar, and lived at the same address for the past 22 years. I have been voting since I was 18. Why should I sign a form seeking new voter registration? I feel it as an insult, ” questioned Yadagiri, a 78-year-old who was born in the same year that India got independence in.

Farzana Begum got a notice saying that she was the sixth sibling mapped to the same parent. However, her husband who attended the hearing said she had only four siblings.

K. Ganesh, an advocate who attended the public hearing, informed that he had to fill in his details in the enumeration form by watching YouTube clips, as nobody guided him. Form was submitted, but yet his name was removed.

Joseph, an armyman who voted in 2024, found his name in the Absent/Shifted/Dead/Duplicate (ASDD) list, marked as Absent/Untraceable. His wife Priya said nobody came to give the forms.

In several cases, the address which was published on the enumeration form was different from the actual address printed on EPIC form.

“Me and my wife’s forms were sent to two different addresses. We got to know when we enquired with the BLO. I am marked ‘Permanently Shifted’ and my wife is marked ‘Untraceable’. We don’t know how the address got changed. Our EPICs have the correct address,” shared Isaac.

Most of the voters learnt about their deletion from the voters’ list through the Forum’s volunteers who have done rigorous work tracing them as part of a social audit.

“We have developed an open source app, and uploaded information, before sharing the lists with volunteers who went from house to house collecting details and informing the voters,” shared Sreeharsha Thanneru, who was part of the initiative.

The volunteers checked 174 voters from the 721 marked as ASDD, and found 40 of them existing at the same addresses. This accounts for 23% of the deletions. The forum has now set up a help desk assisting deleted voters to file the Form 6, but under protest.

The jurists at the hearing, social activist Shanta Sinha, political commentator Parakala Prabhakar, journalist and writer C. Rammanohar Reddy, activist Ashhar Farhan demanded that the SIR process be scrapped and the voter deletions be rolled back.

Published - October 31, 2026 09:35 pm IST