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Former Chief Secretary Prashant Kumar Singh had been transferred to this post shortly before the imposition of President’s Rule in January this year
As questions are raised over the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), the ruling NDA’s second-largest constituent, has sought clarity on “the scope of the exercise” and said it should be made clear that it is “not related to citizenship verification”.
In a letter to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Tuesday, written by TDP parliamentary party leader Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu and signed by five other party leaders, the TDP said: “The scope of the SIR must be clearly defined and must be limited to electoral roll recorrection and inclusion. It should be explicitly communicated that the exercise is not related to citizenship verification, and any field instructions must reflect this distinction.”
The N Chandrababu Naidu-led party called for “the presumption of inclusion”, and said voters enrolled after the previous revision must not be required to re-establish their eligibility “unless specific and verifiable reasons are recorded”, and called for a third-party audit under the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) to identify anomalies.
Citing a Supreme Court judgment, the TDP letter said the prior inclusion of a person in electoral rolls creates a presumption of validity and any deletion must be preceded by a valid inquiry. “The burden of proof lies with the ERO or objector, not the voter, especially when the name exists in the official roll,” said the letter, signed by TDP MPs Byreddy Shabari and D Prasada Rao, TDP Andhra president Palla Srinivasa Rao, and MLA Koona Ravi Kumar.
The letter was submitted to the EC after TDP leaders met it as part of an ongoing exercise by the poll panel to take suggestions from political parties to strengthen electoral processes.
Asked about the letter, TDP national spokesperson and one of the signatories, Jyothsna Tirunagari, denied any link between the ongoing SIR in Bihar and the party’s suggestions. “We just met the EC and, as we were asked for suggestions, made our stand clear on the electoral process. We are a democratic party and would want transparency in the electoral process,” she told The Indian Express.
As reported by The Indian Express, the EC on July 5 wrote to Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) of all states, directing them to begin preparations for a Bihar-like exercise with January 1, 2026, as the qualifying date.
The TDP letter said that any such electoral roll revision should “not ideally be held within six months of any major election”. “To ensure voter confidence and administrative preparedness, the SIR process should be conducted with a sufficient time lead,” it said.
Pointing out that Assembly polls in Andhra — where the TDP is in power with allies BJP and Pawan Kalyan’s JanaSena Party (JSP) — are not due till 2029, the letter said that the SIR provides “a valuable opportunity to ensure electoral rolls are updated in a fair, inclusive and transparent manner”.
Specifically pointing to seasonal migration in coastal areas of Andhra, the TDP’s letter called for temporary address declarations with basic documentation to be permitted. “Where voters are unable to submit documents at the time of visit, age-wise verification must be permitted,” the letter said.
Reacting to the letter, Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader in Bihar Shakeel Ahmad Khan said the process “stifles individual and voting rights”. “No one will like it. There needs to be a time frame and objective for a survey and the SIR lacks both. It is against the Constitution,” he said.
