Hyderabad, Oct 2026 : Telangana BJP President R. Rao on Monday defended the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, accusing Opposition parties of misleading the public by portraying the exercise as a political initiative of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He said the revision was conducted by the Election Commission of India (ECI) to identify and remove ineligible entries from voter lists.
Targeting AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi and Congress leaders opposing the exercise, Rao stressed that the SIR was an electoral process undertaken by the constitutional authority and not an initiative introduced by the BJP.
“Owaisi and other leaders who are opposing SIR should know that it is an Election Commission process and not the BJP’s,” he said.
Rao pointed out that similar exercises had been conducted during Congress-led governments without attracting the same level of opposition. He questioned why Congress leaders were now challenging the process.
He also referred to electoral outcomes in Kerala, arguing that the Congress had won elections despite the revision exercise. According to Rao, Opposition parties frequently question the credibility of the ECI or electronic voting machines (EVMs) when they lose elections.
The Telangana BJP chief accused the Congress and other INDIA bloc constituents of opposing the revision out of political frustration. He claimed that the BJP’s continued presence in power had weakened public confidence in the Opposition, though he offered no independent evidence to substantiate the assertion.
Explaining the purpose of the SIR, Rao said the exercise was intended to identify deceased voters, duplicate registrations and entries belonging to ineligible foreign nationals. He added that voters who had shifted their residence should have their registrations updated to reflect their current place of residence.
“There is no illegality and nothing to object to,” he said, defending the exercise as necessary for maintaining accurate electoral rolls.
Opposition parties, however, have raised concerns about the potential impact of the revision on voters’ rights. Several parties staged protests across the country, including at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on Sunday, alleging that the exercise could lead to eligible voters being excluded from electoral rolls.
The Opposition has claimed that more than 13 crore names were dropped from draft electoral rolls and alleged that the revision could benefit the BJP. These claims have become a point of contention between the ruling party and its political opponents.
Opposition leaders have also questioned the impartiality of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and demanded that the SIR exercise be withdrawn. They have argued that the revision process requires greater transparency and safeguards to ensure that eligible citizens are not disenfranchised.
The BJP has rejected the allegations, maintaining that electoral roll revision is an administrative exercise intended to improve the accuracy of voter lists.
The dispute over SIR has intensified the political debate over electoral transparency, with the ECI’s procedures and safeguards remaining central to the competing claims made by the ruling party and the Opposition.
