BRS seeks probe into suspected bogus votes registered in Hyderabad during SIR

BRS MLC Dasoju Sravan alleged that suspected bogus voter entries were added during the SIR electoral roll revision in parts of Greater Hyderabad. He sought an inquiry, field verification and forensic audit, citing alleged irregularities at a commercial building in Banjara Hills.

Hyderabad: BRS MLC Dasoju Sravan on Wednesday raised concern over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, resulting in the addition of suspected bogus votes in parts of Greater Hyderabad. He accused officials of failing to conduct proper field verification and sought an in-depth investigation into the exercise.

He demanded criminal and departmental action against the concerned officials if an inquiry establishes negligence or wrongdoing. He also sought a comprehensive field verification and forensic audit of electoral rolls across Telangana, particularly commercial buildings and addresses with unusually high numbers of voters. The BRS would formally submit its complaints to the Election Commission in this regard and seek corrective action before the electoral rolls are finalised.

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Addressing a press conference at Telangana Bhavan here, Sravan said the BRS had expected the SIR exercise to eliminate bogus and duplicate voters but had instead found instances of new entries being added without adequate verification. He said the party would approach the Election Commission of India and the Telangana Chief Electoral Officer with complaints and supporting evidence.

He cited the case of polling booth number 237 in Khairatabad Assembly constituency, where a private commercial building in Banjara Hills was allegedly shown as a residential address. According to Sravan, 19 suspected votes had been registered at the address before the SIR exercise.

The BRS repeatedly requested the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) and Booth Level Officer (BLO) to verify the address and remove the entries. However, instead of deleting the 19 votes, the number allegedly increased to 44 in the revised electoral roll.

Sravan questioned how 44 voters could legitimately reside at a private call centre and other commercial offices operating at the same premises. He termed the alleged irregularity a serious threat to the integrity of the electoral process and said the case raised concerns about similar entries elsewhere in Hyderabad and Telangana.

The BRS MLC also complained that the party Booth Level Agents (BLAs) who questioned BLOs over the lack of field verification were threatened with police action and false cases instead of officials being held accountable. He demanded withdrawal of cases allegedly filed against the BRS BLAs and urged political parties, civil society groups and citizens to scrutinise booth-level electoral rolls for irregularities.