BRS Demands Aadhaar-Based Verification for Clean Electoral Rolls in Telangana
The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has called on the Election Commission of India (ECI) to deploy Aadhaar-enabled verification, artificial intelligence, facial recognition, GIS-based methods, and field verification to identify duplicate registrations in the electoral rolls, while ensuring no genuine voter is disenfranchised.
In a representation submitted to the Chief Election Commissioner, the party described the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR)-2026 as a historic chance to prepare accurate and legally sustainable rolls, adhering to the principle of 'One Citizen-One Vote.' The document, signed by MP Vaddiraju Ravichandra, former MP B Vinod Kumar, and legal expert Soma Bharat Kumar, emphasised that the goal should be eliminating duplicates through lawful procedures, not deleting names arbitrarily.
According to the BRS, its preliminary analysis found suspected duplicate and multiple registrations across all 119 Assembly constituencies in Telangana. The party classified these into four categories: duplicate entries within the same Assembly constituency, within the same Parliamentary constituency, across different Assembly constituencies within the state, and registrations held simultaneously in Telangana and neighbouring states, particularly Andhra Pradesh.
The party claimed an average of 16,243 suspected duplicate entries per constituency, with numbers ranging from 2,464 to 53,695 in different areas. However, it clarified that these are only suspected cases requiring statutory verification before any deletion. It also highlighted the issue of voters maintaining registrations in both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh after the state's bifurcation, requesting the ECI to identify such instances.
The representation urged the Commission to ensure due process and legal safeguards are followed, ensuring no voter is removed without verification. The BRS stressed that the exercise must protect genuine electors while cleaning the rolls.
