Voters marked absent despite signed forms: Forum; seeks SIR rollback | Hyderabad News

Voters marked absent despite signed forms: Forum; seeks SIR rollback

Hyderabad: Voters holding enumeration forms signed by booth-level officers were marked absent or untraceable during the special intensive revision (SIR), Telangana Voter Rights Forum alleged on Tuesday, citing surveys that identified 43 wrongful deletions in two booths in Secunderabad Cantonment and 42 in Musheerabad assembly constituencies.Presenting findings from Oct’s social audit and public hearings, the civil society platform demanded scrapping of the exercise and opposed using the revised rolls for Hyderabad’s upcoming municipal elections.Survey flags deletionsResearcher Dr A Suneetha said volunteers had surveyed 757 voters, covering about 42% of voters in Cantonment booths 150 and 151. Of these, 232 were on the ASDD deletion list, including 43 allegedly wrongful deletions; another 383 received notices. Figures cited as official showed 721 deletions and 960 notices among 1,829 voters on the booths’ 2025 rolls. In Musheerabad, 42 of 95 surveyed deleted voters were allegedly wrongfully removed.Musheerabad resident Narender Gundelli said four family members were deleted despite possessing signed forms. A voter since 2008, he questioned being asked to apply afresh. Trimulgherry’s K Ganesh said he learnt of his deletion through the audit despite living at the same address for years. Both opposed submitting Form 6 as new voters.Ameena Begum reported deletion of names of her two sons. Her son Amir Ahmed, 35, showed a signed enumeration form but was marked absent/untraceable, the forum said.Shah’s claims challengedEconomist Parakala Prabhakar criticised Union home minister Amit Shah’s Nov 2 remarks, saying the minister had claimed 13 crore voters were rightly deleted. He sought state-wise and constituency-wise evidence for the alleged presence of three crore foreign infiltrators.Prabhakar cited a May 27 Supreme Court direction seeking submission of immigrant details to the competent authority within four weeks, alleging proof remained absent.Prof G Haragopal cited a living voter marked dead and questioned Election Commission’s selection mechanism. Prof Padmaja Shaw questioned SIR’s authorisation, citing RTI responses. Maria Tabassum highlighted married women’s difficulties establishing parental links. Sister Manjula alleged disproportionate harm to marginalised communities. Advocate SQ Masood alleged Form 6 applications obscured wrongful-deletion numbers.Fresh municipal rolls soughtTVRF’s Kiran Vissa urged CEO Telangana to address systemic flaws rather than blame BLOs. He sought municipal rolls based on the 2025 lists with public audits and, if necessary, legislation revising SEC guidelines.The forum also demanded repeal of the 2025 SIR guidelines and 2023 EC’s appointment law, and the CEC’s resignation. The release contained no response from election authorities or Shah.