Siddipet

Hyderabad: BC Welfare and Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar has warned that any attempt to weaken the right to vote will not be accepted. He called voting a core constitutional right and said poor and eligible citizens in rural areas are being removed from voter lists during the ongoing revision.

Speaking to the media at Sriramulapalli in Koheda mandal of Siddipet district, Ponnam criticised the Election Commission sharply. His charge is serious. He alleged that the poll body is working under the influence of the Central government instead of doing its job independently, and that such conduct can damage the democratic process.

The minister also condemned the arrest of Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi during their protest in Delhi over alleged irregularities in voter lists. Stopping a peaceful protest, he said, means taking away a democratic right. Ponnam accused the Centre of an authoritarian approach and said opposition parties across the country are raising similar concerns about the Election Commission.

He announced that the Congress will step up its ground campaign under the banner Desh Bachao... Vote Bachao to protect voters' rights.

Hyderabad: Around 29,000 Form-7 applications have come in during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Telangana. Chief Electoral Officer C Sudharsan Reddy shared the numbers on Thursday.

28,753 applications seeking objections to proposed voter inclusions or deletion of existing entries were received so far. Hyderabad led with about 5,000 applications. Siddipet and Sangareddy districts came next.

What counts as a valid reason

Applicants must give a real reason for asking a deletion through Form-7. Death, permanent migration, or not living at the registered address are accepted grounds. Simple as that.

Bulk applications filed by political parties will get a detailed check and review before any action is taken. This seems like a sensible safeguard. Numbers can be padded easily during revision rounds.

Review the lists

CEO office will publish claims and objections on its website. Citizens can go through the lists and raise their own objections. Check the list. Speak up if your name is missing.

Congress has said pre-printed Form-7 applications were used to seek deletion of around 30 members of a Muslim family from the electoral roll in Hyderabad's Musheerabad.

The complaint was dated October 1 and filed by Pulipati Rajesh Kumar, chairman of the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee's Election Commission Coordination Committee, along with Mohd Wajid Hussain. It was sent to Telangana Chief Electoral Officer C Sudharshan Reddy.

Names in the complaint include Congress booth-level agent Shafuddin and about 30 members of his family. S Balachander, also called Balu, is also named. Congress describes him as a BJP booth-level agent for polling booth No. 210.

The main charge is simple. The party says the forms were printed in advance and not filled independently by the people listed as applicants. It wants the Election Commission to keep the original applications safe and check signatures, handwriting, dates, mobile numbers, EPIC details, and supporting papers.

Congress has also asked officials to record statements from the named applicants, check whether the forms share common formatting or handwriting, and verify the role of S Balachander. The complaint cites Election Commission guidelines saying the burden of proving a deletion reason falls on the applicant. It also warns that a false statement is punishable under Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950.

Form-7 numbers during SIR in Telangana

Nearly 29,000 Form-7 applications have been filed during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision in the state. CEO C Sudharshan Reddy said 28,753 applications had come in so far, with around 5,000 from Hyderabad. Siddipet and Sangareddy districts followed next.

Form-7 is used to object to a proposed inclusion or to seek deletion of an existing entry from the electoral roll. Researchers and civil society groups in Telangana have now asked for stricter checks so that eligible voters are not removed without a proper process.

Former minister T Harish Rao has responded to Congress leaders who visited his farmlands in Siddipet. He says his life is an open book and lists all property details in his election affidavits.

Rao pointed out that anyone can check these records on the Election Commission of India website. He questioned why the leaders brought heavy police security and used drones for the inspection. He would have welcomed the chance to show them around himself. He asked them to stick to facts instead of spreading wrong information.

Digitization of voter registration forms in Telangana is moving slowly. Although officials finished handing out all forms across the state, the online entry process is behind schedule. By Sunday, only 64.81 percent of the 3.38 crore forms were finished.

Progress across districts

Urban districts are currently behind on this work. Medchal Malkajgiri is at 37.30 percent, while Hyderabad and Rangareddy are also moving slowly. The situation is different in rural regions. Yadadri Bhuvanagiri reached 88.43 percent completion, followed by Siddipet and Nalgonda.

Election officials are working to speed up the rollout. To check your status or find details about the process, visit the Election Commission of India website.

Land records in Telangana are changing. Government has decided to start a special check of Dharani portal. Previous Bharat Rashtra Samiti government launched this system, but it received many complaints. People were unhappy because large amounts of land were put on a prohibited list while other lands were cleared unfairly.

Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy led the cabinet meeting where this decision was made. Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy explained that they need to find out what happened with the records. A forensic audit already checked transactions in Siddipet and Medak. Now, this investigation will cover the whole state.

New system management

Government has moved management of the new Bhu Bharati portal to National Informatics Centre to make operations easier.