Congress leaders failed to function: Revanth Reddy says 21% Telangana voters face deletion under SIR

Telangana could see more than 73 lakh voters drop off its electoral rolls, with Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy warning that nearly 21 per cent of votes face deletion during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR).Telangana CM Revanth Reddy. (PTI)Reddy on Thursday reportedly blamed Congress leaders at various levels for failing to discharge their responsibilities fully.During a video conference with ruling Congress leaders on the SIR process, Reddy directed in-charge ministers to hold reviews with those overseeing Parliamentary and Assembly constituencies in their respective districts and address the issues, news agency PTI reported, citing sources.The ministers have been asked to conduct reviews across the districts over the next two days and prepare a report for every constituency, Congress sources said.Also Read: 18 million voters in state could get deleted from rolls in SIR exerciseReddy also instructed constituency in-charge leaders to remain in their respective constituencies for four days, identify issues related to the revision process and work to resolve them.The chief minister warned that the party would not tolerate any failure to draw up and implement a proper action plan in line with the directions of the AICC.He cautioned that a lack of vigilance among party leaders could cause significant political damage in the future.Reddy further directed Congress leaders to expose what he alleged was a conspiracy by the BRS and BJP to delete votes, the sources said.The concern comes as the number of electors in Telangana is expected to fall by more than 73 lakh following the SIR process, with enumeration forms for these voters classified as "uncollectable".According to Telangana Chief Electoral Officer C Sudharshan Reddy's statement issued on August 11, the state had 3,38,26,448 voters in all. Of these, enumeration forms for 2,64,87,214 voters, or 78.30 per cent, had been digitised.The remaining 73,39,234 forms, accounting for 21.70 per cent of the total, were classified as "uncollectable", he said.House-to-house visits by Booth Level Officers (BLOs) as part of the SIR began in Telangana on June 25 and concluded on August 10. The draft electoral rolls are scheduled to be published on August 17.SIR exercise updatesOn the other hand, as many as 18.46% or 18 million of 97.8 million registered electors across Maharashtra are expected to be deleted from the electoral rolls in the ongoing SIR exercise.These voters are either dead, duplicate, not traceable at the given address or shifted from there. Mumbai accounts for 29.6% of deletions, with Muslim-dominated areas such as Mankhurd, Colaba and Mumbadevi being even higher at almost 40%.According to data released by the Election Commission (EC) on Wednesday, of the 9,78,54,049 registered voters, 7,60,98153 electors have been enumerated while the enumeration of 1,80,60,697 (18.46% of total electors) could not be completed. The deadline for completing the SIR exercise is August 17.(With inputs from agencies)