Special Intensive Revision set to redraw Hyderabad’s political map
The Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls may significantly alter Hyderabad’s voter demographics by removing duplicate and anomalous entries. With over 88 lakh anomalies identified statewide, the exercise could influence future GHMC and Assembly elections and reshape political strategies.
Hyderabad: The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, scheduled to commence from June 24, could prove to be one of the most consequential exercises in Telangana’s political history. If implemented rigorously, the exercise could significantly alter voter demographics in Hyderabad and its surrounding urban constituencies, with far-reaching implications for the upcoming GHMC elections and the next Assembly polls.
The first indications are already visible. Telangana’s pre-SIR voter-mapping exercise has identified anomalies in over 88 lakh of the total 3.38 crore electors across the State, accounting for nearly 26 per cent of the electorate, Election Commission officials confirmed. However, only 70 per cent of the electorate had been mapped when the exercise concluded.
The impact is likely to be most pronounced in Hyderabad’s urban belt. Constituencies such as Quthbullapur, LB Nagar, Uppal, Serilingampally, Kukatpally, Malkajgiri and Rajendranagar have recorded anomaly rates ranging from 57 to 78 per cent.
A key political question revolves around voters who are believed to be registered in both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Political parties estimate that more than 10 lakh such voters exist in Hyderabad, Secunderabad and parts of Malkajgiri alone. Since SIR is intended to eliminate duplicate registrations across States, these voters may now be forced to choose the State in which they wish to remain enrolled.
If a sizeable section opts to retain their votes in Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad’s electoral arithmetic could undergo a substantial shift. Several voters from other States, including neighbouring Karnataka and Maharashtra, as well as northern States, may also face similar challenges.
Even without factoring in duplicate voters, estimates suggest that nearly 15-20 lakh votes in Hyderabad’s urban region alone could be deleted after the verification process. Combined with the possible migration of dual-State voters, the net reduction could be significant enough to influence outcomes in several divisions during the GHMC elections. However, the exact number of votes to be eliminated would be known only after the final rolls are published in October.
During the Jubilee Hills by-election held in October last year, the principal opposition BRS raised concerns about duplicate and fake votes, estimated at around 20,000. The party submitted representations to the EC to weed out such votes before losing the seat to the ruling Congress by over 24,000 votes.
For political parties, the implications are enormous. Electoral strategies built around existing voter databases may require recalibration. Parties that traditionally benefited from migrant, floating and duplicate voter populations could face a changed political landscape. Equally, parties with a stronger base among verified local residents may stand to gain.
While concerns are also being raised over the removal of genuine voters under the guise of SIR, EC authorities have assured that notices will be served to such voters for clarification. Even if anyone fails to receive such notices, they can seek corrections after the publication of the draft electoral rolls.
The GHMC elections could become the first major political test of the SIR exercise. If voter rolls shrink significantly in Hyderabad’s growth corridors, the outcome might depend less on mobilising transient or duplicate voters and more on consolidating genuine resident voters. In that sense, SIR has the potential not merely to revise electoral rolls but also to reshape the city’s political arithmetic altogether.
